HMS ''America'' was a 64-gun
third-rate ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...
of the
Royal Navy, designed by John williams and built by
Adam Hayes
Adam Hayes (1710–1785) was an 18th century shipbuilder to the Royal Navy. A great number of his models survive.
He was responsible for the selection of the ship the "Earl of Pembroke" and was the wright who converted it into HMS Endeavour ...
at
Deptford Dockyard and was launched on 5 August 1777.
The name was a traditional name in the
Royal Navy and continued unabated despite the
American War of Independence
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
in 1776.
Service History
Her first commander was
Lord Longford who took ''America'' into the
Battle of Ushant as part of the Rear Squadron.
''America'' took part in the
Battle of the Chesapeake on 5 September 1781, and on 12 April 1782 saw action under command of Captain Thompson in the white squadron as part of the
Battle of the Saintes against a French fleet.
In 1795 ''America'' was part of the British fleet at the
Battle of Muizenberg.
''America'' was under way off the
Azores on 13 December 1800 when she ran against the
Formigas Reef and suffered severe damage to her hull. With some difficulty she was refloated with the tide and returned to harbour. On 27 December ''America''s captain and senior officers were court martialled aboard , which was anchored off Port Royal, Jamaica. All were acquitted when the court established that the grounding had been caused by errors in the ship's charts, upon which the reef was marked as being substantially to the south of its actual location.
[Grocott 1997, p. 103]
Following the grounding, ''America'' was withdrawn from active service and in 1801 was redesignated as a
prison ship moored off
Jamaica. In 1804 she was loaned to the Transport Board (implying she was still sea-worthy). She was decommissioned and broken up in 1807.
Notable Commanders
*
Lord Longford 1777 to 1779
*
James Macnamara
Rear admiral (Royal Navy), Rear-Admiral James Macnamara (1768 – 15 January 1826) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
...
1790
*
John Blankett 1794 to 1796
*
Edward Buller 1796/7
*
Joseph Bingham
Joseph Bingham (September 1668 – 17 August 1723) was an English scholar and divine, who wrote on ecclesiastical history.
Life
He was born at Wakefield in Yorkshire.
He was educated at Wakefield Grammar School and University College, Oxf ...
1800
Notes
References
*
*
Ships of the line of the Royal Navy
Intrepid-class ships of the line
1777 ships
Ships built in England
Maritime incidents in 1800
Shipwrecks of the Azores
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