HMS Fame (1759)
The Fame ships of the line were based on the Dublin Class .She was designed by naval architect William Bately, newly appointed as co-Surveyor of the Navy alongside his more senior colleague Sir Thomas Slade. She was ordered on the 13th of April, 1756 being the first of a class of four 74-gun third rate ships, It was Bately's first design for a vessel of this size, and borrowed heavily from Slade's specifications for the older 74-gun Dublin-class ships which were then under construction at England's Royal Dockyards Fame was, however, constructed at Deptford by M/shipwright Henry Bird Junior and launched there on the first of January, 1759.
History
Great Britain
Name:
HMS Fame
Ordered:
13 April 1756
Builder:
Bird, Deptford
Launched:
1 January 1759
Renamed:
HMS Guildford, December 1799
Honours and
awards:
- Participated in:
- Battle of Grenada
- Battle of the Saintes
Fate:
Sold out of the service, 1814
General characteristics
Class and type:
74-gun third rateship of the line
Tons burthen:
1565 89⁄94 (bm)
Length:
165 ft 6 in (50.44 m) (gundeck)
Beam:
46 ft 7 in (14.20 m)
Depth of hold:
19 ft 10 in (6.05 m)
Propulsion:
Sails
Sail plan:
Full rigged ship
Armament:
- 74 guns:
- Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs
- Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs
- Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs
- Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs
Naval career.
Fame was commissioned in the February of 1759.
In 1762, while in company with Lion, she captured the French 10-gun ship Ecureuil.
She was paid off after wartime service on the 3rd of April1763. Recommissioned in the following month she was fitted out as a Guardship at Plymouth on the 6th of September of that year, but in the May of i764 refitted to carry troops.
Refitted a second time for troop carrying, on the 20th of January,1768, she was driven from her moorings onto St. Nicholas Island and was severely damaged. She also collided with the Irish ships Freemason and Valentine. The former was also driven ashore on St. Nicholas Island, whilst the latter sank in the Hamoaze. HMS Fame was refloated on the 5th of February and taken back into Plymouth for repairs at a cost of well over £3000.
She was again fitted for a guardship there in 1771.
In 1777 refitted for wartime service, by 1778, se was under the command of Captain Stephen Colby, and proceeded to the North American station in a fleet of 14 ships under Vice-Admiral the Hon. John Byron on his flagship the Princess Royal.
By the 6th of July 1779, she was now commanded by Captain John Butchart, and it was under him that on this date Fame took part in the Battle of Grenada against the French. The French fleet, under Admiral D’Estaing, consisted of 25 ships of the line and several frigates. The British fleet, under Vice-Admiral Byron, had 21 ships of the line and 1 frigate. The French were anchored off Georgetown on the south-west of the island, and the English approached during the night. D’Estaing weighed at 4 am and Byron chased. The British ships attacked in utter disorder and confusion. Fame and three other ships got separated from the main body, and were very badly mauled. The French lost no ships and eventually hauled off. The British lost 183 killed and 346 wounded. Fame lost 4 killed and 9 wounded. The French lost 190 killed and 759 wounded. This action reflected no credit on either side.
Fame then returned to Chatham for repairs and coppering. Recommissioned in the September of 1781 under Captain Robert Barbor she returned to service and under his captaincy, she returned to the West Indies. On the 12th of April,1782, she was one of a fleet of 36 ships of the line under Admiral Sir George Rodney, aboard his flagship HMS Formidable. when they encountered the French fleet of 33 ships of the line, commanded by Vice-Admiral Comte de Grasse with his flag aboard the Ville de Paris, between Dominica and Guadeloupe. The fighting was spread over several days, before the French were finally defeated in what came to be known as the Battle of the Saints.
George Vancouver served as lieutenant on this Fame under Captain Robert Barbor during this engagement. Vancouver later went on captain his own ship, HMS Discovery, on a voyage of discovery to the Pacific Northwest in search of the Northwest passage.
Fate.
On her return to Plymouth from the June to the October of 1790 she was refitted as a Guardship for Cork.
Recommissioned in the November of 1795 under Captain Thomas Taylor for temporary service at Plymouth, she was moved to Portsmouth in 1797 in need of major repairs, being the oldest 74 then in service. Recommissioned under Lieutenant John Watherson as a Prison ship in the November of 1797, In 1801, Fame was renamed Guilford and retained as a prison ship stationed at Portsmouth. In 1806 she was commanded by lieutenant Robert Trotter, and fom the May of 1807 by Lieutenant George Keenor. By 1812 she was under Lieutenant William Coet.
She was eventually sold out of the service on the 30th of September,1814 for the sum of £2,400.
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