HMS Sapphire (1651)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Sapphire.

History
England
Name	Sapphire
Builder	Peter Pett I, Ratcliffe
Launched	1651
Fate	Wrecked, 1670
General characteristics
Class and type	Fourth-rate frigate
Tons burthen	442 BM
Length	100 ft (30.5 m) (keel)
Beam	28 ft 10 in (8.8 m)
Depth of hold	11 ft 9 in (3.6 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	140 originally, by 1666 had 160 (wartime).
Armament	Originally 38, later 36 guns in war (30 only in peacetime)

Sapphire was a 38-gun fourth-rate frigate of the English Royal Navy, originally built for the navy of the Commonwealth of England by Peter Pett I at Ratcliffe, and launched in 1651.

Unlike many of her half-sisters, Sapphire seems to have never had additional guns added to her after completion; indeed by 1666 she carried just 36 in wartime (and 30 in peacetime), with 12 culverins and 10 demi-culverins on the lower deck, and 14 sakers on the upper deck. Sapphire was wrecked on 31 March 1670 when she was deliberately run aground at Sicily to escape from what her captain, John Pearce, thought were four Algerian corsairs. They weren't, and Pearce and his lieutenant, Andrew Logan, were shot for cowardice at Deptford on 26 August 1670.

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.
• Winfield, Rif (2009) British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-040-6.