second-rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer guns ...
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
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
, built by Israel Pownoll and launched on 5 July 1761 at
Woolwich
Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...
third rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...
. She disappeared off Madagascar with all hands in February 1807.
Service
''Blenheim'' was first ordered to be built in November 1755 as part of an Admiralty program to expand the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
fleet ahead of the onset of the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754†...
with France. Construction was assigned to the Navy dockyard at Woolwich with an intended completion date of September 1759. However there were major delays arising from a lack of skilled workmen in the yard, and by Navy Board attempts to reduce waste and misuse in dockyard practices. In April 1757 ''Blenheim''s shipwrights walked out in protest against a Navy Board reform that impacted on their traditional entitlement to remove spare timbers for personal use. Construction had fallen further behind schedule by the time they returned to work, with ''Blenheim'' not finally completed until July 1761.
The newly built vessel was commissioned into the Royal Navy in August 1761, for the final year of the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754†...
, but paid off in June 1762. She was recommissioned in March 1777 under Captain Broderick Hartwell, but
paid off
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...
again in September 1784.
She was recommissioned for her third war in August 1794 under Captain Charles Calmady. Under the command of John Bazely from December 1794, she took part in the
Battle of Hyères Islands
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
in 1795. ''Blenheim'' then fought at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797. By 1801, this by now 40-year-old ship had become so badly hogged as to be unsafe for sea. However, she was
d to a 74-gun Third Rate in 1801–1802, and set sail for
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
under the command of Captain Peter Bover at the end of the year, carrying Captain Samuel Hood and other commissioners to
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
.
On 14 November 1803 the French privateer ''Harmonie'' entered the harbour at Le Marin, together with a prize that she had taken. Captain Thomas Graves, in ''Blenheim'', determined to cut her out. He beat around
Diamond Rock
Diamond Rock (french: rocher du Diamant) is a 175-metre-high (574 ft)hired armedcutter towed the marines. The two parties set out at 11p.m., and at 3a.m. the two attacks succeeded. The marines captured the fort, which was only guarded by 15 men, who they took prisoner. They spiked six 24-pounder guns and three 18-pounders, and blew up the magazine. The cutting out party met with resistance from ''Harmonie'' and suffered the only British casualties. ''Hermione'', of eight guns, had had a crew of 66 men under the command of Citizen Noyer at the start of the British attack. Some 12 escaped overboard and some may have drowned. Two were killed and 14 wounded. ''Blenheim'' had one man killed and two wounded, and ''Drake'' had three wounded, one dangerously so. The inhabitants of Grenada purchased and donated ''Harmonie'' to the Royal Navy, which named her .
Captain Loftus Bland sailed ''Blenheim'' back to
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
in 1804.
In 1805, ''Blenheim'' sailed for
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge, Bt.
On 7 August 1805, ''Blenheim'' was escorting a fleet of
East Indiamen
East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...
consisting of , , , , , , and . They were at when they encountered the French ship of the line ''Marengo'' and frigate . There was a brief exchange of fire before both sides sailed on. Troubridge reprimanded the captains of ''Cumberland'' and ''Preston'' for having acted too boldly in exchanging fire with the French.Biden (1830), pp.225 & 229.
By the time Troubridge received orders to take command at the
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...
, at the beginning of 1807, ''Blenheim'' was in alarming condition, and required constant pumping to keep her afloat. Despite the request of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies,
Edward Pellew
Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. His younger brother ...
, that he transfer his flag to another ship, Troubridge determined to take her to the Cape. Bissell also warned Troubridge of ''Blenheim''s condition, but received in return the taunt that he might go ashore if he liked. Unable to shake Troubridge's confidence, Bissell composed a last letter to his wife before sailing, convinced the ship would founder.Grocott (1998)
Loss
''Blenheim'' left Madras on 12 January 1807, in the company of the
sloop
A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...
(Capt. Justice Finley) and the
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
(Capt. George Pigot), the latter recently captured from the Dutch. The two parted company from ''Harrier'' in a gale on 5 February 1807. When ''Harrier'' last saw them at they were flying signals of distress.
The later reported having seen ''Blenheim'' off Rodrigues in a gale on 18 February. Another frigate later reported in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
that ships answering to the descriptions of ''Blenheim'' and ''Java'' had been seen in distress off
ÃŽle Sainte-Marie
Nosy Boraha , previously known as Sainte-Marie, main town Ambodifotatra, is an island off the east coast of Madagascar. The island forms an administrative district within Analanjirofo Region, and covers an area of 222 km2.
It has a popula ...
in February 1807 and had sailed again.
No further trace of the ships was ever found, despite an extensive search by Troubridge's son Captain Edward Troubridge in and the co-operation of the French. ''Blenheim'' and ''Java'' are presumed to have foundered somewhere off
. There is speculation that ''Java'' was lost while trying to rescue crew from the sinking ''Blenheim''.
About 280 men were lost aboard ''Java'' and 590 aboard ''Blenheim''.Gossett (1986), p. 58. Those lost aboard ''Blenheim'' included Troubridge, Bissell, Captain Charles Elphinstone (nephew of Admiral Lord Keith), the
midshipmen
A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...
George, Lord Rosehill (eldest son and heir of Rear-Admiral the Earl of Northesk) and William Henry Courtenay (illegitimate son of Admiral the
Duke of Clarence
Duke of Clarence is a substantive title which has been traditionally awarded to junior members of the British Royal Family. All three creations were in the Peerage of England.
The title was first granted to Lionel of Antwerp, the second son ...
). Also lost was former HMS ''Bounty'' mutineer James Morrison.
Notes
References
*
*
* Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. .
*