HMS Prince Royal (1610)

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The surrender of Prince Royal at the Four Days Battle, 13 June 1666. Painted by Willem van de Velde the Younger.
Career (England) Royal Navy Ensign
Name: HMS Prince Royal
Builder: Phineas Pett I, Woolwich
Launched: 1610
Honours and
awards:

Participated in:
Fate: Burnt, 13 June 1666 by the Dutch
General characteristics as built[1]
Class and type: 55-gun Royal Ship
Tons burthen: 1200 tons (1219.3 tonnes)
Length: 115 ft (35 m) (keel)
Beam: 43 ft 6 in (13.3 m)
Depth of hold: 18 ft (5.5 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament: 55 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1641 rebuild[2]
Class and type: 70-gun ship
Tons burthen: 1187 tons (1206 tonnes)
Length: 115 ft (35 m) (keel)
Beam: 43 ft (13 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament: 70 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1663 rebuild[3]
Class and type: 92-gun first rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1432 tons (1455 tonnes)
Length: 132 ft (40 m) (keel)
Beam: 45 ft 2 in (13.8 m)
Depth of hold: 18 ft 10 in (5.7 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament: 92 guns of various weights of shot

HMS Prince Royal was a 55-gun Royal Ship of the English Royal Navy, built by Phineas Pett I at Woolwich and launched in 1610.[1]

In 1641 she was rebuilt by Peter Pett I at Woolwich as a 70-gun ship.[2] During the time of the Commonwealth of England, she was named Resolution and fought in most battles of the First Anglo-Dutch War. By 1660 she was carrying 80 guns.[2] In 1663 she was rebuilt at Woolwich Dockyard by Phineas Pett II as a 92-gun first rate ship of the line.[3]

In 1666, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, she served as Vice-Admiral George Ayscue's flagship in the Four Days Battle, on the third day of which she ran aground. When Dutch fireships began approaching the stranded ship, her crew panicked and struck her colours. Ayscue was forced to surrender to Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Tromp aboard the Gouda. Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter ordered Prince Royal to be burned, then a general Dutch policy with captured prizes to prevent them from being recaptured later in a battle.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p158.
  2. ^ a b c Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p159.
  3. ^ a b Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p161.

[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.
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