HMS Antelope (1741)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Antelope |
| Laid down: | Rebuilt from HMS Antelope of 1703 |
| Launched: | 1741 |
| Fate: | Sold out of the service, 30 October 1783 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Armament: | 54 guns of various weights of shot |
HMS Antelope was a 54-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy that served in the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War.
She was rebuilt from the Antelope of 1703, and launched in 1741 at Woolwich.
On June 16, 1756, she sailed from England for Gibraltar with Vice Admiral Sir Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke and Rear Admiral Charles Saunders. She arrived there on July 3 with an order to supersede Admiral John Byng. Antelope returned to England with Byng, sailing on July 9 and arriving at Spithead on July 26, where Byng was arrested before being landed on August 19. His trial started on board Monarch on December 27.
On April 30, 1757, Captain Samuel Hood, took command of Antelope. On May 15, after a short action off Brest, France, the French Aquilon, 50, was driven on to the rocks in Audierne Bay where she was wrecked. Then, on October 31, 1758, off Barnstaple, Antelope took Belliqueux, 64, one of a French squadron returning from Quebec.
Not every action was a success. In 1759, under the command of Captain James Webb, Antelope was attached to Commodore William Boys's squadron, which had been blockading François Thurot in Dunkirk throughout the summer and early autumn. On October 15, when the squadron had been driven off station during a gale, Thurot made his escape with six frigates and corvettes carrying 1300 troops and sailed to Gothenburg.
In 1762, Antelope was stationed in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, under the command of Captain Thomas Graves, who was acting Governor of the island. A French fleet from Brest, under M. de Ternay, with 1500 troops commanded by the Comte d'Haussonville, sailed into St. John's and captured the town on June 24. Captain Graves immediately sent word to Commodore Lord Colville at Halifax who joined him in blockading the French, and brought troops over from Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island on September 11. During a gale on September 16 de Ternay evaded the blockade and, abandoning the troops, sailed back to France.
On her way home to England Antelope encountered Marlborough, under Captain Thomas Burnett, which had sailed from Havana as part of the escort of a convoy of prizes and transports, but had become separated in very heavy weather. She was leaking so badly that her guns had to be thrown overboard and the pumps kept working. Antelope took all her people off on November 29 when she started to founder and she was allowed to sink.
Later, in 1780, Antelope was again patrolling the Labrador coast and intercepted the American ship Mercury. As the vessels came to close quarters, a package was thrown overboard from the latter. One of the sailors on Antelope dived from the deck and rescued the package, which contained details of secret negotiations then being conducted between the United States and the United Provinces. Antelope Harbour, Labrador, is named for this incident.
Antelope was sold October 30, 1783.
