HMS Ruby (1708)

Career (Great Britain)
Name: HMS Ruby
Builder: Allin, Deptford Dockyard
Launched: 25 March 1708
Renamed: HMS Mermaid, 1744
Fate: Sold, 1748
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: 1706 Establishment 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 707 long tons (718.3 t)
Length: 130 ft (39.6 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 35 ft (10.7 m)
Depth of hold: 14 ft (4.3 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament:

50 guns:

  • Gundeck: 22 × 18 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 22 × 9 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 4 × 6 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6 pdrs

HMS Ruby was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Sir Joseph Allin at Deptford Dockyard to the 1706 Establishment, and launched on 25 March 1708.[1]

She achieved an unwelcome notoriety in March 1741 when her captain, Samuel Goodere or Goodyer, was convicted of murder at Bristol and subsequently hanged; he had enticed his elder brother, Sir John Dineley Goodere, on board, and had caused him to be strangled in the purser's cabin.[2]

Ruby was renamed HMS Mermaid in 1744, and was sold out of the service in 1748.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p168.
  2. ^ Emlyn, Sollom, ed., Complete Collection of State Trials (1742) vol. VI p. 797 et seqq.; online (PDF) here

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.