HMS Fowey (1705) explained

HMS Fowey was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Chatham Dockyard in 1703/05. She spent her career in the Mediterranean and was taken by the French off Cape Gato, Spain in April 1709.

She was the second named vessel since it was used for a 32-gun fifth rate built by Burgess & Briggs of Shoreham and taken by the French off the Scilly Islands on 1 August 1704.^[1]

Construction and specifications

She was ordered on 16 March 1703 to be built at Chatham Dockyard under the guidance of Master Shipwright Robert Shortiss. She was launched on 10 March 1705. Her dimensions were a gundeck of 108feet with a keel of 89feet for tonnage calculation with a breadth of 29feet and a depth of hold of 13feet. Her builder's measure tonnage was calculated as 411 tons (burthen).^[2]

The gun armament initially was four demi-culverins^{[3] [4]} on the lower deck (LD) with two pair of guns per side. The upper deck (UD) battery would consist of between twenty and twenty-two 6-pounder guns^{[5] [6]} with ten or eleven guns per side. The gun battery would be completed by four 4-pounder guns^{[7] [8]} on the quarterdeck (QD) with two to three guns per side.^[9]

Commissioned Service 1705-1709

She was commissioned in 1705 under the command of Captain Charles Parsons for service in the Mediterranean. Captain Parsons was killed on the 11 February 1706. Captain Richard Lestock took command on 29 April 1706 and she sailed for Home Waters in September 1706. She returned to the Mediterranean to join Admiral John Leake's Fleet during the winter of 1707/08.

Loss

She was taken by two French 40-gun vessels of Capr Gato, Spain on 14 April 1709.

References

• Winfield (2009), British Warships in the Age of Sail (1603 – 1714), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, EPUB
• Colledge (2020), Ships of the Royal Navy, by J.J. Colledge, revised and updated by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow and Steve Bush, published by Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, Great Britain, © 2020, EPUB
• Lavery (1989), The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War 1600 – 1815, by Brian Lavery, published by US Naval Institute Press © Brian Lavery 1989,, Part V Guns, Type of Guns
• Clowes (1898), The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to the Present (Vol. II). London. England: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, © 1898

Notes and References

1. Colledge (2020)
2. Winfred 2009, Ch 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Fifth Rates of 32 and 36 guns, Tartar Group, Fowey
3. Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, demi-culverins, page 101
4. A demi-culverin was a gun of 3,400 pounds with a four-inch bore firing a 9.5-pound shot with an eight-pound powder charge
5. Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, The 6-pounder, page 102
6. A 6-pounder was a Dutch gun used to replace the saker
7. Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, Minion or 4-pounder, page 103
8. A minion renamed the 4-pounder was a gun of 1,000 pounds with a 3.5-inch bore firing a 4-pound shot with a 4-pound powder charge.
9. Winfred 2009, Ch 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Fifth Rates of 32 and 36 guns, Tartar Group