HMS Blenheim (1761)
| History | |
|---|---|
 UK | |
| Name | HMS Blenheim |
| Ordered | 12 November 1755 |
| Builder | Woolwich Dockyard |
| Launched | 5 July 1761 |
| Honours and awards | list error: mixed text and list (help) Participated in: |
| Fate | Wrecked, 1807 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type | Sandwich-class ship of the line |
| Tons burthen | 1827 tons (1856.3 tonnes) |
| Length | 176 ft (54 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam | 49 ft (15 m) |
| Depth of hold | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Sail plan | Full rigged ship |
| Armament | list error: mixed text and list (help) 90 guns:
|
HMS Blenheim was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 5 July 1761 at Woolwich.[1]
Service
Under the command of John Bazely, she took part in the Battle of Hyères Islands in 1795. Blenheim then fought at Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797. By 1801, she had become so badly hogged as to be unsafe for sea. However, she was razeed to a 74 in 1801–1802, and set sail for Barbados under the command of Captain Peter Bover at the end of the year, carrying Captain Samuel Hood and other commissioners to Trinidad. Captain Bland sailed her back to Portsmouth in 1804.
In 1805, Blenheim sailed for Madras under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge, Bt, flag captain Austin Bissell. By the time Troubridge received orders to take command at the Cape of Good Hope, at the beginning of 1807, Blenheim was in alarming condition, and required constant pumping to keep her afloat. Despite the request of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, Edward Pellew, that he transfer his flag to another ship, Troubridge determined to take her to the Cape. Bissell also warned Troubridge of Blenheim's condition, but received in return the taunt that he might go ashore if he liked. Unable to shake Troubridge's confidence, Bissell composed a last letter to his wife before sailing, convinced the ship would founder.[2]
Loss
Blenheim left Madras on 12 January 1807, in the company of the sloop HMS Harrier (Capt. Justice Finley) and the frigate HMS Java (Capt. George Pigot), the latter recently captured from the Dutch. The two parted company from Harrier in a gale on 5 February 1807.[2] She last saw them at Lat 22° 44'S., Long 66° 11'E., flying signals of distress.[3]
The French frigate Sémillante later reported having seen Blenheim off Rodrigues in a gale on 18 February.[4] Another frigate later reported in Calcutta that ships answering to the descriptions of Blenheim and Java had been seen in distress off Réunion after the gale, had put in for repairs at Île Sainte-Marie in February 1807 and had sailed again.[4]
No further trace of the ships was ever found, despite an extensive search by Troubridge's son Captain Edward Troubridge in HMS Greyhound and the co-operation of the French. Blenheim and Java are presumed to have foundered somewhere off Madagascar.[2] A painting depicting their loss was created by Thomas Buttersworth.
About 280 men were lost aboard Java and 590 aboard Blenheim.[3] Those lost aboard Blenheim included Troubridge, Bissell, Captain Charles Elphinstone (nephew of Admiral the Lord Keith), the midshipmen George, Lord Rosehill (eldest son and heir of Rear-Admiral the Earl of Northesk) and William Henry Courtenay (illegitimate son of Admiral the Duke of Clarence). Also lost was former HMS Bounty mutineer James Morrison.
Notes
References
- Gossett, William Patrick (1986). The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900. Mansell. ISBN 0-7201-1816-6.
- Grocott, Terence (1998) Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Eras. Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-81171-533-7
- 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.