HMS Boyne (1790)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Image:No Photo Available.svg
Career (Great Britain) Royal Navy Ensign
Name: HMS Boyne
Ordered: 21 January 1783
Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Laid down: 2 November 1783
Launched: 27 June 1790
Fate: Accidentally burnt, 1795
General characteristics
Class and type: Boyne-class ship of the line
Tons burthen: 2010 tons (2042.3 tonnes)
Length: 182 ft (55 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 50 ft 3 in (15.3 m)
Depth of hold: 20 ft 9 in (6.3 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament:

98 guns:

  • Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs
  • Middle gundeck: 30 × 18 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 30 × 12 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 8 × 12 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 12 pdrs

HMS Boyne was a 98-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 June 1790 at Woolwich. She was the flagship of Vice Admiral John Jervis in 1794. She caught fire and was destroyed in 1795[1] at Spithead.

Laying at anchor, it is supposed that the ship caught fire unknowingly as the Royal Marines of the vessel were practicing firing exercises. Ironically, because the guns were always left loaded, the cannons began to 'cook off,' thereby firing shots at potential rescuers making their way to the ship, resulting in the deaths of two seamen and the injury of another aboard HMS Queen Charlotte, anchored nearby. Later in the day, the hulk broke its moorings and began to float freely, and exploded soon after. Eleven sailors were killed as a result of this disaster.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Lavery, The Ship of the Line, p183.

[edit] References

  • Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.