HMS York (1796)

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This HMS York was originally laid down at Deptford as an East Indiaman named Royal Admiral, but the shortage of naval shipping caused by the outbreak of the Revolutionary War with France prompted her purchase and eventual commissioning under her new name in 1796.

She was a third rate ship of the line, usually carrying 64 guns, making her smaller than the average battleship of the day. This factor combined with her unususal build resulting from her conversion from a mercantile craft to a warship to make a slightly ungainly and awkward ship. She spent much of her early career in the Caribbean Sea, where she had her only contact with the enemy when she captured the small French schooner Fancy near St Thomas.

She departed Woolwich under Captain Henry Mitford on the 26 December 1803 with her full complement of over 500 men and boys, for a routine patrol in the North Sea, but when by the end of January she had not been heard from again, fears were raised that she may have been lost. Due to the poor communications and long sailing times of the day, there was still hope as late as the end of February that she may yet appear, but she and her crew were never seen again, sunk as the result of an unknown calamity of fire or water.

See HMS York for other ships of the same name.

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