HMS Royal Charles (1673)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Royal Charles and HMS Queen.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Royal George and HMS Royal Anne.

History
Great Britain
Name	Royal Charles
Ordered	26 April 1671
Builder	Anthony Deane and Daniel Furzer, Portsmouth Dockyard
Launched	March 1673
Commissioned	February 1673
Renamed	Queen, 27 January 1693 Royal George, 9 September 1715 Royal Anne, 1756
Fate	Broken up, 1767
General characteristics as built[1]
Class and type	100-gun first-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1443 (bm)
Length	136 ft (41 m) (keel)
Beam	44 ft 8 in (13.61 m)
Depth of hold	18 ft 3 in (5.56 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	100 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1693 rebuild[2]
Class and type	100-gun first-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1657 92⁄94 (bm)
Length	170 ft 6 in (51.97 m) (gundeck)
Beam	47 ft 7 in (14.50 m)
Depth of hold	18 ft (5.5 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	100 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1715 rebuild[2]
Class and type	100-gun first-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1800 84⁄94 (bm)
Length	171 ft 9 in (52.35 m) (gundeck)
Beam	49 ft 3 in (15.01 m)
Depth of hold	19 ft 6 in (5.94 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	100 guns of various weights of shot

HMS Royal Charles was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, designed and built by Sir Anthony Deane at Portsmouth Dockyard, where she was launched and completed by his successor as Master Shipwright, Daniel Furzer, in March 1673.[1] She was one of only three Royal Navy ships to be equipped with the Rupertinoe naval gun.[3]

She was Prince Rupert of the Rhine's flagship at the battles of Schooneveld; two naval battles of the Franco-Dutch War, fought off the coast of the Netherlands on 7 June and 14 June 1673 against the fleet of the United Provinces, commanded by Michiel de Ruyter.[4]

She was rebuilt at Woolwich Dockyard between 1691 and 1693, and renamed HMS Queen on 27 January 1693. The Queen became the flagship of Sir George Rooke and was captained by James Wishart.[5] She was rebuilt for a second time at Woolwich, relaunching on 20 September 1715, and renamed once more, this time as HMS Royal George.[2]

The much-rebuilt Royal George was renamed HMS Royal Anne in 1756, and was broken up in 1767.[2]

Model on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston

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Notes

1. Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 161.
2. Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 165.
3. Spencer, p.351; Endsor, p.9.
4. Clowes, William Laird (1897). The royal navy - a history from the earliest times to the present (1897) (Vol. 2 of 5 ed.). Sampson Low, Marston and Company. pp. 310–311. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
5. J. D. Davies, ‘Wishart, Sir James (c.1659–1723)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 9 Dec 2012

References

• Endsor, Richard (2009). Restoration Warship: The Design, Construction and Career of a Third Rate of Charles II's Navy. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781591147121.
• Lavery, Brian (2003). The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0851772528.
• Spencer, Charles (2007). Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 9780297846109.
• Winfield, Rif (2009). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 9781848320406.