Fourth Rate 50 gun ships of the Royal Navy.

[Bligh]

HMS Centurion (1774)





HMS Centurion was a Sir Thomas Slade designed, Salisbury Class, 50 gun fourth rate ship, built by John Barnard and John Turner at Harwich. Ordered on the 25th of December, 1770, and laid down in the May of 1771, she was launched on the 22nd of May, 1774, and completed between the 22nd of June in that year and the 9th of September.1775, at Chatham. The cost was £15023.9.11d.to the builder, plus £1,237.6.11d. for masts provided by the Navy. With rigging for her the overall bill came to ££20,537.17.9d and then there was a further £4,205.16.10d for fitting out.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Centurion
Ordered:	25 December 1770
Builder:	Barnard & Turner, Harwich
Laid down:	May 1771
Launched:	22 May 1774
Completed:	By 9 September 1775
Fate:	Sank at moorings on 21 February 1824 Raised and broken up in 1825
General characteristics
Class and type:	Salisbury Class 50 gun fourth rate.
Tons burthen:	1,044 ​11⁄94 (bm)
Length:	146 ft 0in (44.5 m) (overall) 120 ft 2in (36.6 m) (keel)
Beam:	40 ft 5in (12.3 m)
Depth of hold:	17 ft 3 1⁄2 in (5.27 m)
Draught: Propulsion:	10ft 8in x 15ft 7in Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	Upper deck: 22 x 12 pdr guns Lower deck: 22 x 24 pdr guns QD: 4 x 6 pdr guns Fc: 2 x 6 pdr guns

Service.

HMS Centurion was commissioned in the July of 1775 under her first commander, Captain Richard Braithwaite, and sailed for North America on the 25th of October in that year.

The American Revolution.

She was present at the occupation of Rhode Island in December of the following year. Centurion was part of Richard Howe’s fleet at Its encounter with the Comte d’Estang on the 11th of August, 1778, after which she briefly became Howe's Flagship between the 14th and 15th of August. By November, she was in the West Indies with William Hotham’s forces, where she supported the St Lucia landings on the 14th and 15th of December. Remaining in the Leeward Islands throughout 1779, Centurion took part in the Battle of Martinique on the 17th of April, 1780, followed by periods of action in the indecisive clashes that took place on 15th and 19th of May. She returned to Britain and was paid off in September of 1780. The ship then underwent a Middling repair and was coppered at Portsmouth for £11,178.19.10d between the September of that year and the June of 1781. Recommissioned, she sailed back to North America on the 5th of July in that year, under the command of Captain Samuel Clayton. On the 22nd of January, 1783, she chanced upon a battle between the frigate HMS Hussar and the 36 gun French frigate Sybille off the Chesapeake, prompting Sybille's surrender. At the end of the American Revolution Centurion returned home to pay off. She was then fitted for Ordinary at Sheerness and between the December of the following year and the December of 1787 underwent a Great repair at Woolwich for £23,424.12.0d.
Recommissioned in the February of 1789 under Captain William Ottway, she became the Flagship of Rear Admiral Phillip Affleck, and sailed for Jamaica on the 20th of June in that year. Centurion returned home and was paid off in the August of 1792.

The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Between the August of 1792 and the January of 1793 Centurion was refitted at Chatham, and recommissioned under Captain Samuel Osborn, and immediately sailing for the Leeward Islands on the 26th of February. By the November of that same year she was on her way to the East Indies and in early 1794, Centurion, in company with the Orpheus and Resistance, arrived on the East India station.
On the 5th of May she was instrumental in the capture of the French 34 gun ship Duguay-Trouin, late Princess-Royal, Indiaman off the Isle de France.

Off Mauritius, accompanied by the 44 gun HMS Diomede, on the 22nd of October, 1794, Centurion came into action with a French squadron under Captain Jean-Marie Renaud, comprising the 44 gun La Prudente, and la Cybele, plus the 20 gun Le Jean Bart and 14 gun Le Courier.
Centurion placed herself abreast of the two frigates, with the greater part of her broadside bearing on the Prudente. Diomede took a similar position between Cybèle and Jean Bart, but focused her attention primarily on Cybèle. Meanwhile, the French avisos attempted to rake the British from the rear. After one hour, Renaud started to withdraw, signalling to Cybèle to follow, but the wind had fallen and she had sustained such damage to her rigging that she could not do so. Cybèle therefore found herself under sustained fire from both Centurion and Diomede, but enjoyed aggressive support from Coureur. At 17:00, Centurion lost her topmasts. Around the same time, the wind came up again, enabling Cybèle to retreat and Prudente to return to the fight. Cybèle then lost her mainmast; by then, she had three feet of water in her hull. Diomede attempted to close in, but had sustained damage and was unable to intervene. Prudente was able to put a tow on Cybèle and the two then retreated to Isle de France.
Centurion had lost three seamen killed or mortally wounded, and 24 men wounded. Diomede did not sustain any loss. Prudente lost 15 men killed, including her First Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant, and 20 wounded, including Renaud. Cybèle lost her first lieutenant and 21 men killed, and 62 wounded, 37 of them dangerously. Coureur apparently suffered no casualties. With her topmasts shot off and her foremast lost, Centurion had to retreat for repairs, so the British squadron abandoned the blockade.


Cybèle and Prudente fighting HMs Centurion and HMS Diomede, by Durand Brager

Centurion was also involved in the capture of Ceylon in the July and August of following year, and also that of Amboyna and Banda in the February of 1796.

From the April of 1797 she came under the command of Captain John Sprat Rainier, still cruising in the East Indies, the Red sea and then back to Batavia in the August of 1800. On 23rd of that month, Centurion, with Sybille, Daedalus, and Braave captured or destroyed several Dutch vessels at Batavia Roads. The Royal Navy took a Dutch Brig into service as the Admiral Rainier.

In 1804 Centurion came under the Temporary command of Captain James Lind and it was during this period that her most important action came at the Battle of Vizagapatam, in which she fought against the French squadron of Contre-Admiral Charles-Alexandre Durand Lenois which was raiding British shipping. The French squadron, comprising the 74 gun Marengo and the frigates Semillante and Atalantea encountered the small frigate HMS Wilhelmina accompanying the Centurion escorting a convoy of two East Indiamen, the Barnaby and the Princess Charlotte. The convoy was anchored at Vizagapatam, early on the 15th of September, when Linois's squadron approached the harbour. Captain Lind was ashore, leaving Lieutenant James Robert Phillips in command. Phillips sighted the approaching ships and, suspecting them to be French, opened fire. Linois continued to approach, causing one of the East Indiamen to run ashore, where she was wrecked, while Lind hurried to return to his ship.
The three main French ships, continued to approach under fire from Centurion and the shore batteries protecting the harbour. When the French frigates came within 200 yards, Phillips opened fire on Atalante as Sémillante attempted to reach the other side of the British ship and surround her. Linois did not want to risk the Marengo when there might be uncharted shoals about, and so he fired from a longer range. After several hours of fighting, Centurion had suffered severe damage. She had been severely holed, with her rigging wrecked and her anchor cable shot through, which caused her to slowly drift away from the shore, out of control. The French took the opportunity to capture the remaining East Indiaman and withdraw from the harbour. The Centurion lost one man killed and nine wounded. The French suffered slightly heavier losses, Marengo losing two men killed and an officer wounded and Atalante three killed and five wounded. Sémillante, which had not been closely engaged in the battle, suffered no casualties. Damage to the French ships was severe, and Linois was forced to abandon further operations.
Both nations claimed the encounter as a victory, the French for the capture of the East Indiaman and the British for the survival of Centurion in the face of overwhelming French numerical superiority.


Defence of the Centurion in Vizagapatam Road, Sept. 15th 1804, after a painting by Sir James Lind.

Retirement from active service.

Centurion did not remain much longer in the East Indies, being sent home in November as needing an extensive repairs, due at least in part to the damage inflicted by an infestation of white ants. The letter sent back with her from the commanding officer of her station declared that he was sending her home as she "will require an expensive repair if detained any longer in this Country; in her present state she may be converted by the Navy Board to some useful inferior establishment, as I know of no other mean of effectively getting rid of the White Ants onboard her, who have at times discovered themselves by serious depredations aloft".

In the August of 1807 Centurion was duly fitted at Chatham for service as a Hospital ship, and after recommissioning under Lieutenant Edward Webb sailed to Halifax Nova Scotia under his command in 1808. She became a receiving ship and stores depot there under Captain George Monke, in the November of that year, followed by a return to being a hospital ship in 1809. She was back in use as a receiving ship under Captain William Skipsey in the June of 1813, during which time she served as flagship of Rear Admiral Edward Griffith Colpoys. Captain Justice Finley took over command in the June of 1814, followed by Captain David Scott from the October of that year.

Fate.

Centurion was finally hulked in 1817, in which state she spent the next seven years. She sank at her moorings on the 21st of February, 1824, was raised and broken up in the following year.