Third Rate 64 gun ships of the Royal Navy.

[Bligh]

HMS Yarmouth (1745)



HMS Yarmouth was a 64 gun third rate ship of the line, built at Deptford Dockyard by M/shipwright Joseph Allin, Jnr. Ordered on the 16th of June, 1742, and laid down on the 25th of November of that year, launched on the 8th of March, 1745, and completed on the 10th of May in that same year, at a cost of £30,527.4.9d. She had been previously ordered to the dimensions specified in the 1741 proposals for modifications to the 1719 Establishment, but the Admiralty had very quickly concluded that these were too small, and as an experiment in 1742 authorized an addition of 6ft to the planned length Yarmouth was thus re-ordered to the enlarged design in the June of that year. She had been built at Deptford because the Admiralty felt they could best observe the effectiveness of the added size at close quarters.


Plan of Yarmouth

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Yarmouth
Ordered:	16 June 1742
Builder:	Deptford Dockyard
Laid down:	25 November 1742
Launched:	8 March 1745
Commissioned:	February 1745
In service:	1745–1807
Honours and awards:	Second Battle of Cape Finisterre, 1747 Seven Years’War. American Revolutionary War. Battle of the Saints 1782
Fate:	Broken up, April 1811
General characteristics
Class and type:	1741 proposals 64 gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1359 ​38⁄94 (bm)
Length:	160 ft (48.8 m) (gundeck) 131 ft 8 in (39.8 m) (keel)
Beam:	44 ft 3 in (13.5 m)
Depth of hold:	18 ft 11in (5.8 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	Gundeck: 26 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 26 × 18-pounder guns Quarterdeck: 10 × 9-pounder guns Forecastle: 2 × 9-pounder guns

Service.

HMS Yarmouth was commissioned under Captain Roger Martin in the February of 1745 for the Western squadron in the Downs during the winter of 1745.

The War of the Austrian Succession.

In 1746, still with the Western squadron she was the Flagship of W. Martin. And on the 15th of April took the privateer Le Chasseur. Later in that year, on the 9th of October, now under Captain Piercy Brett, she joined Admiral George Anson’s Fleet cruising off Cape Finisterre.

In the following year, on the 14th of May 1747, she served as one of the ships in Anson’s squadron at the First Battle of Cape Finisterre. This action saw 14 British ships attack a French 30-ship convoy commanded by Admiral de la Jonquiere. The British captured 4 ships of the line, 2 Frigates and 7 merchantmen, in a five-hour battle. One French frigate, one French East India warship and the other merchantmen escaped.

In later 1747, temporarily under Captain Charles Saunders she took part in the second battle of Finisterre, but by 1748 she was back under Brett’s command again this time with Warren’s fleet.

By Admiralty Orders, on the 22nd of November 1748 Yarmouth was reduced to guard ship duties at Chatham, and was then paid off in 1752. In the September of 1753 she removed to Sheerness still in the role of a guard ship under Captain George Cockburn.

Refitted for Channel service in 1754,in the March of 1755 she came under Captain Harry Norris and sailed as a reinforcement for Boscawen.

The Seven Years’ War.

In the January of 1756 she joined Osborne’s Fleet, but by the June of that year, now under Captain Chaloner Ogle, she was back with Boscawen. In the November of that year, under Captain Robert Frankland she became the flagship of the now Rear Admiral Norris with Knowles’s Fleet, and on the10th of March 1757 she sailed for the East Indies.

In 1758 HMS Yarmouth served under Captain John Harrison as Flagship to Vice Admiral George Pocock at the Battle of Cuddalore which took place on the 29th of April of that year off the Carnatic coast of India and was an indecisive battle fought between the British squadron and a French squadron under the command of the Comte d’Ache. British casualties were 29 killed and 89 wounded, whilst the French lost 99 killed and 321 wounded. Although the battle itself was indecisive, the French fleet was able to achieve its primary objective in delivering the reinforcements for which the defenders of Pondicherry had been awaiting.
The two squadrons clashed again on the 3rd of August at the Battle of Negapatam and finally on the 10th of September at the Battle of Pondicherry.

Yarmouth returned to England to pay off in 1760.On the 4th of November in that year she underwent a survey, and during the period between the 11th of September 1761 and the July of 1763 she underwent a great repair at Chatham costing £30,338.9.3d.

Recommissioned inthe May of that year under Captain Charles Proby, who was to command her until 1766, she took up guard duties at Chatham. In 1767 she removed to Sheerness to continue in this role, now under Captain James Gambier, and thence to Chatham once more.
In 1770 she came under the command of Captain Edward Vernon back at Sheerness once more, and later under Captain Western Verlo.

A change of fortune for Yarmouth came in 1777 when she recommissioned under Captain Nicholas Vincent, and on the 9th of September in that year she sailed for the Leeward Islands.

The American Revolution.

On the 7th of March, 1778 Yarmouth was attacked by the American frigate Randolph which had half the number of Yarmouth’s guns and estimatedly less than a quarter of her firepower. The frigate managed to cause some minor damage to two of Yarmouth's topmasts and a portion of her bowsprit, and now having established superior manoeuvrability, attempted to rake the Yarmouth. Randolph was now managing 3 broadsides to each one with which Yarmouth could reply, however the 12 lb shot failed to do substantial damage or to penetrate Yarmouth's hull, whilst Yarmouth's 18 and 32-pounders were able to penetrate any part of her comparatively lightly armoured opponent with impunity. Having taken a critical hit, most probably having entered her magazine, Randolph exploded during the engagement,killing all but four of her crew. Part of her wreckage landed on Yarmouth's decks, including Randolph's ensign. Yarmouth was forced to repair two damaged topmasts, but otherwise suffered no significant damage, and no fatalities or serious injuries.

Later in 1778 she came under the Captaincy of Nathaniel Bateman, who would be dismissed in 1780 by Court Martial. On the 6th of August 1779 Yarmouth took part in the Battle of Grenada, taking her place at the van of the rear squadron, and in the following year, on the 17th of April, 1780, in Admiral Rodney’s Fleet at in the Battle of Martinique. By the end of the month she was under Captain John Duckworth for the actions at St Lucia from the 15th and 17th of May in that year. Following this action she proceeded with Rodney to New York and thence home to England.

In 1781,Yarmouth was under Captain Skeffington Ludwidge until she paid off in the March of that year in order for her to be reduced in armament to become a 60 gun Fourth Rate ship. She was ,however, re-established as a 74 gun ship of the Line by Admiralty Orders given on the 18th of April and was fitted as such for Home Service between the May and October of that year. Recommissioned by Captain William Denne for Derby’s fleet in the autumn of that year, in the January of 1782, under Captain Anthony Parrey she sailed for the Leeward Islands once more.

On the 9th of April of that year she saw action in the Dominica Channel, and on the 12th of the month at the Battle of the Saints, and following this an action at the Mona Passage on the 19th of the month. On the 21st of July she sailed for New York with Pigot, and then to the blockade of Cape Francois. In the January? of 1783, she came under Captain Edward Herbert and returned to the Leeward Islands. From there she returned home and was paid off in the June of that year.

Fate.

Fitted as a receiving ship at Plymouth between the November and December of that same year she remained in this role until 1807.
In the April of 1811, Yarmouth was broken up there.