Action Of 8 April 1740
The action of 8 April 1740 was a battle between the Spanish third rate HMS Princess (1740), ''Princesa'' (nominally rated at 70 guns, but carrying 64) under the command of Don Parlo Augustino de Gera, and a squadron consisting of three British 70-gun third rates; , and , under the command of Captain Colvill Mayne of ''Lenox''. The Spanish ship was chased down and captured by the three British ships, after which she was acquired for service by the Royal Navy. Background On 25 March 1740 news reached the British Admiralty, Admiralty that two Spanish ships had sailed from Buenos Aires, and were bound for Spain. Word was sent to Portsmouth and a squadron of three ships, consisting of the 70-gun ships , and , under the command of Captain Colvill Mayne of ''Lenox'', Captain Lord Augustus FitzRoy, Lord Augustus Fitzroy of the ''Orfond,'' and Captain Thomas Durell of the ''Kent.'' were prepared to intercept them. The ships, part of John Balchen, Sir John Balchen's fleet were briefly ...
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HMS Princess (1740)
HMS ''Princess'' was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She had served for ten years as the ''Princesa'' for the Spanish Navy, until her capture off Cape Finisterre in 1740 during the War of the Austrian Succession. After being chased down and captured by three British ships, she was acquired for service by the Royal Navy. Her design and fighting qualities excited considerable interest, and sparked a series of increases in the dimensions of British warships. She went on to serve under a number of commanders in several theatres of the War of the Austrian Succession, including the Mediterranean, where she was at the Battle of Toulon, and in the Caribbean and off the North American coast. She was then laid up and being assessed, was not reactivated for service during the Seven Years' War. She was instead reduced to a hulk at Portsmouth, in which capacity she lasted out both the Seven Years' War and the American War of Independence, being sold for breaking up ...
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