HMS Southsea Castle (1697) explained

HMS Southsea Castle was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Deptford Dockyard in 1694/95. She was assigned to the West Indies. She was wrecked along with HMS Bideford on Hispaniola in November 1699.

She was the second vessel to bear the name Southsea Castle since it was used for a 32-gun fifth rate built by Knowles of Redbridge on 1 August 1696 and wrecked on Dove Sand on 15 September 1697.

Construction and specifications

She was ordered on 24 December 1696 to be built at Deptford Dockyard under the guidance of Master Shipwright Fisher Harding. She was launched on 6 November 1697. Her dimensions were a gundeck of 108feet with a keel of 89feet for tonnage calculation with a breadth of 28feet and a depth of hold of 10feet. Her builder's measure tonnage was calculated as 387 tons (burthen).^[1]

The gun armament initially was four demi-culverins^{[2] [3]} 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^{[4] [5]} with ten or eleven guns per side. The gun battery would be completed by four 4-pounder guns^{[6] [7]} on the quarterdeck (QD) with two to three guns per side.^[8]

Commissioned service 1698-99

She was commissioned in 1697 under the command of Captain Thomas Swanson. In 1699 Captain Thomas Stepney was assigned as her commander for service at Jamaica.^[1]

Loss

She was wrecked along with HMS Bideford on Île-à-Vache, off the coast of Hispaniola, on 12 November 1699.^[1]

References

• Winfield (2009), British Warships in the Age of Sail (1603 – 1714), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, EPUB
• Winfield (2007), British Warships in the Age of Sail (1714 – 1792), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2007, 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
• Clowes (1898), The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to the Present (Vol. III). London. England: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, © 1898

Notes and References

1. Winfred 2009, Ch 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Fifth Rates of 32 and 36 guns, 1694 Programme, Southsea Castle
2. Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, culverins, page 101
3. 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.
4. Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, The 6-pounder, page 102
5. A 6-pounder was a Dutch gun used to replace the saker.
6. Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, Minion or 4-pounder, page 103
7. 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.
8. Winfred 2009, Ch 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Fifth Rates of 32 and 36 guns, 1694 Programme