HMS ''Falkland'' was a 50-gun fourth-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, built by Holland of New Castle, New Hampshire, and purchased by the navy in 1696. She had the distinction of being the first warship built in what would nearly a century later become the United States of America. She was ordered by the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

in 1690 and delivered on 2 March 1696. During her career she escorted merchant ships to America, and in 1704 engaged the 36-gun French ship ''La Seine'' off the Azores. Together with they succeeded in capturing her and renamed her . She was rebuilt for the first time at Chatham Dockyard in 1702 as a fourth rate of between 46 and 54 guns. Her second rebuilt took place at Deptford, where she was reconstructed according to the

1719 Establishment The 1719 Establishment was a set of mandatory requirements governing the construction of all Royal Navy warships capable of carrying more than 20 naval long guns. It was designed to bring economies of scale through uniform vessel design, and ens ...

and relaunched on 28 August 1720. On 8 December 1742 orders were issued for ''Falkland'' to be taken to pieces and rebuilt for what was to be the final time at Bursledon, where she was reconstructed according to the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment by Philemon Ewer, and relaunched on 17 March 1744. ''Falkland'' was one of the ships dispatched to search for the missing in 1744, and eventually discovered her likely fate when she stopped to re-provision at

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

Bataille du cap Ortegal mai 1747 image et texte

''Falkland'' was transferred to the Victualling Department on 10 August 1768.

Notes

References

* *Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Falkland (1696) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy