HMS Dartmouth (1693)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Dartmouth and HMS Vigo.

History
England
Name	HMS Dartmouth
Ordered	21 June 1692
Builder	John Shish, Rotherhithe
Launched	24 July 1693
Captured	4 February 1695, by France
France
Acquired	4 February 1695
Renamed	Bourbon
Fate	Sold to Spain in January 1700
Spain
Acquired	4 February 1695
Renamed	San Juan Bautista
Captured	12 October 1702, by HMS Barfleur
History
England
Name	HMS Vigo Prize
Acquired	12 October 1702
Renamed	Vigo Prize
Fate	Wrecked in the "Great Gale" in Holland, 27 November 1703
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	602 84⁄94 bm
Length	122 ft (37.2 m) (on gundeck) 100 ft (30.5 m) (keel)
Beam	33 ft 8 in (10.3 m)
Depth of hold	13 ft 7 in (4.1 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	50 guns of various weights of shot

HMS Dartmouth was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, ordered on 21 June 1692 to be built by commercial contract with the master shipwright John Shish in Rotherhithe (one of seven such 50-gun ships ordered during 1692),[2] and launched there on 24 July 1693.[1]

Under the command of Captain Roger Vaughan (who was killed in the action), she was badly damaged and captured in the Western Approaches by two French 40-gun ships on 4 February 1695.[2] The French sold her in January 1700 to Spain, who renamed her as San Juan Bautista (rating her as 48 guns and 549 toneladas in size); she served as the almiranta (2nd flagship) to a convoy in 1701, but she was re-taken by HMS Barfleur at the Battle of Vigo Bay on 12 October 1702. Upon her re-capture in 1702 she was renamed HMS Vigo Prize, as a new ship of the navy had already been commissioned as HMS Dartmouth. Her service as HMS Vigo Prize was short however,[1] as she was wrecked in on the Dutch coast on 25 November 1703.[3]

Notes

1. Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 164.
2. Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603–1714, p.133.
3. Larn, Richard (1977). Goodwin Sands Shipwrecks. Newton Abbot, London, North Pomfret: David & Charles. p. 57. ISBN 0-7153-7202-5.

References

• Lavery, Brian (2003) 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. Barnsley, UK; Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-040-6.