HMS Hastings (1695) explained

HMS Hastings was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by Thomas Ellis of Shoreham in 1694/95. She spent her brief career on counter piracy patrols and trade protection duties in Home Waters. She was wrecked in a storm off Waterford in December 1697.

She was the first vessel to carry the name Hastings in the English and Royal Navy.^[1]

Construction and specifications

She was ordered on 2 April 1694 to be built under contract by Thomas Ellis of Shoreham. She was launched on 5 February 1695. Her dimensions were a gundeck of 108feet with a keel of 90feet for tonnage calculation with a breadth of 28feet and a depth of hold of 10feet. Her builder’s measure tonnage was calculated as 383 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 1695-1697

HMS Hastings was commissioned on 18 June 1695 under the command of Captain John Draper for service in the West Indies. She returned to Home Waters with a convoy. She was assigned to Irish Waters in 1696. In 1697 she was escorting timber ships to Kinsale, Ireland.

Loss

She was wrecked in a storm off Waterford on 10 December 1697 with the loss of all hands.^[10]

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, 1694 Programme, Hastings
3. Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, 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, 1694 Programme
10. Clowes (1898), Chapter XXIV, page 497