HMS Centurion (1691)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Centurion.

History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Centurion
Ordered	20 March 1690
Builder	Fisher Harding, Deptford Dockyard
Launched	6 March 1691
Fate	Broken up, 1728
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	614 ^35/94 bm
Length	125 ft 8.5 in (38.3 m) (gundeck) 105 ft (32.0 m) (keel
Beam	33 ft 2 in (10.1 m)
Depth of hold	13 ft 5 in (4.1 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	50 guns of various weights of shot

HMS Centurion was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1691. She was ordered on 20 March 1690 to be built at Deptford Dockyard by Master Shipwright Fisher Harding - on thye same day as her stable-mate Chester (to be built at Woolwich Dockyard), and six days after the first ship of this batch (the Chatham to be built at Chatham Dockyard) - to a similar design to the prototype of this "123-ft" type - the Sedgemoor of 1687. The specified dimensions in the ordxer were for a length of 125 ft by 32ft 6in by 13ft 4in, but on completion she measured about 8 inches longer and in breadth.[1] She was launched on 6 March 1691 (15 days before the Chester and 45 days before the Chatham).

The Centurion took part in the Battle of Barfleur in May 1692 under the command of Captain Francis Wyvell, and at the Battle of Velez-Malaga on 13 August 1704 under Captain John Herne. She served until 1728, and was broken up at Plymouth in February 1729.[1]

Notes

1. Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603–1714, p.131.

References

• Lavery, Brian (1983) The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
• Winfield, Rif (1997), The 50-Gun Ship: A Complete History. Chatham Publishing (1st edition); Mercury Books (2nd edition 2005). ISBN 1-845600-09-6.
• Winfield, Rif (2009), British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603–1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-040-6.