HMS Queen (1769)
By Robert Strickland Thomas.
HMS Queen was a three-deck 90-gun the sole ship of her class, second-rateship of the line of the Navy, designed by William Batley. Built by M/shipwright Joseph Harris and completed by William Grey. She was thus the only ship built to her specification. She was launched on the 18th of September,1769 at Woolwich Dockyard. Her armament was increased to 98 guns in the 1780s.
History GREAT BRITAIN Name: HMS Queen Ordered: 10 November 1761 Builder: Woolwich Dockyard Launched: 18 September 1769 Honours and
awards:Fate: Broken up 1821 General characteristics Class and type: 90-gun second rateship of the line Tons burthen: 1876 (bm) Length: 177 ft 6 in (54.1 m) (gundeck) Beam: 49 ft 6 in (15.1 m) Depth of hold: 21 ft 9 in (6.6 m) Propulsion: Sails Sail plan: Full rigged ship Armament:
- Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
- Middle gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder guns
- Upper gundeck: 30 × 12-pounder guns
- Forecastle: 2 × 9-pounder guns
HMS Queen at the King's Dock Woolwich in 1771, by Hendrik Kobell
Service.
In November of 1776 she commissioned under Captain John Robinson for Channel service.
HMS Queen fought at the First Battle of Ushant under Captain Alexander Innes in Admiral Augustus Keppel's Fleet in 1778, and the Second Battle of Ushant, Captain Frederic Maitland, under Kempenfelt in 1781. In 1794 she fought in the Glorious First of June under Howe,where she served as Rear-Admiral Alan Gardner's flagship. During the battle Queen sustained significant damage, and her commanding officer, Captain John Hutt, was amongst those killed.
From August she came under the command of Captain William Bedford and took part in the action off the Isle de Groix on the 23rd of June 1795.
Under Captain Mann Dobson as Flagship of Vice Admiral Sir Hyde Parker she sailed for the West Indies in the August of 1796. She spent the next four years on the Jamaica station. On her return to Portsmouth in 1800 she underwent huge repairs.
By the March of 1804, she was under the command of Captain Theophilus Jones, until May and then under Captain Manley Dixon for the Channel Fleet. Next, in 1805 under Captain Francis Pender as Flagship of Rear Admiral John Knight.
After the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, HMS Queen continued in the blockade of Cadiz. On the 25th of November, Thunderer apprehended the Ragusan ship Nemesis, sailing from the Isle de France to Leghorn, Italy, with a cargo of spice, indigo dye, and various other goods. Queen shared the prize money with ten other British warships.
On the 25th day of October 1806, the Spanish privateer Generalísimo captured HM gunboat Hannah, which was serving as a tender to HMS Queen.
After Trafalgar, the demand for the larger three-decker first and second rate ships was in decline and consequently, in 1811 the Admiralty had HMS Queen cut down to a two-decker third rate 74. at Chatham.
In late 1811 she served in the Channel under Captain Lord John Colville and then in the North sea in 1813
.
Under Captain John Goode from the September of 1814 for Mediterranean service, she was eventually paid off in the August of 1816.
Fate.
Queen was eventually broken up at Chatham in 1821.
Bookmarks