HMS Strafford (1735)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Strafford (1714).
Career (Great Britain)
Name: HMS Strafford
Ordered: 4 September 1733
Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Launched: 24 July 1735
Fate: Sunk as a breakwater, 1756
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:1733 proposals 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:1,067 long tons (1,084.1 t)
Length:144 ft (43.9 m) (gundeck)
Beam:41 ft 5 in (12.6 m)
Depth of hold:16 ft 11 in (5.2 m)
Propulsion:Sails
Sail plan:Full rigged ship
Armament:60 guns:
  • Gundeck: 24 × 24 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 26 × 9 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 8 × 6 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6 pdrs

HMS Strafford was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built to the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment of dimensions at Chatham Dockyard, and was launched on 24 July 1735.[1]

Engagements

HMS Strafford took part in the destruction of the fortress of San Lorenzo el Real Chagres (22-24 March 1740), in Panama, as part of a squadron commanded by Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon during the War of Jenkins' Ear.

At 3 pm on 22 March 1740, the English squadron, composed of the ships Strafford, Norwich, Falmouth and Princess Louisa, the frigate Diamond, the bomb vessels Alderney, Terrible and Cumberland, the fireships Success and Eleanor, and transports Goodly and Pompey, under Vernon's command, began to bombard the Spanish fortress. Given the overwhelming superiority of the English forces, Captain Don Juan Carlos Gutiérrez Cevallos surrendered the fort on 24 March, after resisting for two days.

Strafford served until 1756, when she was sunk as part of a breakwater.[1]

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p171.

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.