HMS Suffolk (1765)
Suffolk.
HMS Suffolk was a 74-gun third-rateship of the line, ordered on the 1st of January, 1761,designed by William Bateley, and built by Randall and Co of Rotherhythe. She waslaunched there on the 22nd of February, 1765. She was, modelled on the principles of Bateley’s earlier HMS Fame, and was the only ship built to her draught. The only other ship similar to it was the Ajax which was broken up in 1785.
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GREAT BRITAIN
HMS Suffolk Ordered: 8 January 1761 Builder: Randall, Rotherhithe Launched: 22 February 1765 Fate: Broken up, 1803 Class and type: 74-gun third rateship of the line Tons burthen: 1616 (bm) Length: 168 ft 1 1⁄2 in (51.2 m) (gundeck) Beam: 46 ft 9 5⁄8 in (14.3 m) Depth of hold: 20 ft 2 1⁄2 in (6.2 m) Propulsion: Sails Sail plan: Full rigged ship Armament: ·74 guns
·Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
·Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
·QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns
·Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns
Service history.
HMS Suffolk was commissioned in the May of 1778.
Under the command of Rear Admiral Joshua Rowley she saw her first action off Guadeloupe on the night of the 21st to the 22nd of December,1779 when three French frigates, La Fortunée (42 guns), La Blanche (36 guns), and L'Ellis (28 guns) were captured.
Refitted fitted at Chatham between the March and July of 1782, she was then coppered and fitted for Channel service at Plymouth.
Suffolk was paid off after wartime service in the June of 1783 and fitted for ordinary at Plymouth in the February of 1784.She next went in for a great repair from the February of 1790, which work extended until the February of 1793, and she was then recommissioned under Captain Peter Rainier for Admiral Howe’s Fleet. On the 4th of May, 1794 Captain Rainier, with Suffolk, a 64-gun ship, and four or five frigates, undertook to escort a convoy to India. In the November of that year they arrived at Madras. In the following July, Suffolk, now under Captain Robert Lambert, HMS Hobart, HMS Centurion and transports, sailed from Madras, joined en route by HMS Diomede.
Ranier was promoted to Rear Admiral in the June of 1795 and from this point Suffolk came under the command of Captain Robert Lambert as Ranier’s Flagship. In this capacity she sailed from Madras on the 21st of July of that year, for Ceylon to take Trincomalee and other Dutch settlements on the island.
On the 16th of February, 1796, Rear Admiral Rainier arrived with a squadron, off Amboyna, in the Dutch controlled Molucca islands and landed troops who were able to take possession of it without facing any resistance. Next,on the 7th of March, the squadron arrived off Banda-Neira and again landed troops, this time taking possession after facing a slight resistance. in the Treasury at Amboyna, the Admiral discovered 81,112 Rixdollars, and in the stores 515,940 lb) of cloves; in the Treasury at Banda-Neira 66,675 Rixdollars, and 84,777 lb of nutmeg, 19,587 lb of mace, and a significant amount of other merchandise. Estimates suggest that each of the captains in Rainier's squadron received in excess £15,000 in prize money.
What is perhaps more interesting and of greater long-term significance is that on this voyage, Suffolk was taking part in an experiment under the auspices of the Sick and Hurt Board. At the suggestion of Rear Admiral Gardner, and in defiance of civilian medical opinion the Admiralty implemented a long-term trial of citrus fruit as a remedy for scurvy. Lemon juice was issued on board Suffolk on her twenty-three-week, non-stop voyage to India. The daily ration of two-thirds of an ounce mixed in grog contained just about the minimum daily intake of 10 mg vitamin C. There was no serious outbreak of scurvy. The following year the Admiralty adopted a general issue of lemon juice to the whole fleet.
At Colombo a serious mutiny broke out on Suffolk on 15 January 1798. However, it was suppressed, and in the June of that year she came under the command of Captain Pulteney Malcolm.
Fate.
On the 4th of February, 1802, Suffolk called at St Helena on route for England in company with Arran, which was also returning to England from the Indies. She arrived at Chatham under the command of Captain Roger Curtis in the April of that year.
Suffolk was broken up there in the February of 1803.
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