The English ship ''Winsby'' (renamed HMS ''Happy Return'' in 1660) was a 44-gun

fourth-rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...

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 ...

, built for the navy of the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execut ...

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

, and launched in February 1654. ''Winsby'' was named for the Parliamentarian victory at the

Battle of Winceby The Battle of Winceby took place on 11 October 1643 during the First English Civil War near the village of Winceby, Lincolnshire. In the battle, a Royalist relieving force under the command of Sir William Widdrington was defeated by the P ...

(1643). After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, ''Winsby'' was renamed, as her original name was incompatible with the restored

Stuart monarchy The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fit ...

Construction and commissioning

The

''Winsby'' was a

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...

, named after the

(1643). She was ordered by the Commonwealth on 27 December 1652. The ship was launched on 21 February 1654. The English ship ''Winsby'' cost the navy £3,932. It was built at

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

under the direction of master

shipwright Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

Edmund Edgar. She had a length at the

gun deck The term gun deck used to refer to a deck aboard a ship that was primarily used for the mounting of cannon to be fired in broadsides. The term is generally applied to decks enclosed under a roof; smaller and unrated vessels carried their guns o ...

of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of , a draught of , and a

depth of hold Depth(s) may refer to: Science and mathematics * Three-dimensional space * Depth (ring theory), an important invariant of rings and modules in commutative and homological algebra * Depth in a well, the measurement between two points in an oil w ...

of . The ship's

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically ref ...

was 605 tons

burthen Burden or burthen may refer to: People * Burden (surname), people with the surname Burden Places * Burden, Kansas, United States * Burden, Luxembourg Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Burden'' (2018 film), an American drama film * ''T ...

. Originally built for 50 guns, by 1666 she was carrying 52 guns (8

saker Saker may refer to: * Saker falcon (''Falco cherrug''), a species of falcon * Saker (cannon), a type of cannon * Saker Baptist College, an all-girls secondary school in Limbe, Cameroon * Grupo Saker-Ti, a Guatemalan writers group formed in 1947 * ...

s, 22

culverin A culverin was initially an ancestor of the hand-held arquebus, but later was used to describe a type of medieval and Renaissance cannon. The term is derived from the French "''couleuvrine''" (from ''couleuvre'' "grass snake", following the La ...

s, and 22

demi-culverin The demi-culverin was a medium cannon similar to but slightly larger than a saker and smaller than a regular culverin developed in the late 16th century. Barrels of demi-culverins were typically about long, had a calibre of and could weigh up t ...

s). By 1685, this had changed to 48 guns (22 culverins, 20 demi-culverins and 6 demi-culverin cutts). The ship had a crew of 190 officers and ratings in 1666.

Career

''Winsby'' was commissioned in 1654 under Captain Joseph Ames (until 1660), and fought at the Battle of Santa Cruz (20 April 1657). During 1659 she was in operations in the Sound. ''Winsby'' was renamed after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, as her original name was incompatible with the restored

. Under Ames, ''Happy Return'' served in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

in June 1660. In September that year she came under the command of Captain John Tyrwhit. Robert Moulton was captain from 31 May 1664 to 16 August 1664. From 4 October 1664 to 25 August the following year she was under Captain James Lambert—under Lambert she fought at the

Battle of Lowestoft The Battle of Lowestoft took place on during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the United Provinces commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer, Lord Obdam attacked an English fleet of equal size comm ...

(Red squadron, Centre division) on 3 June 1665, and at the Battle of Vägen on 3 August that year. From 28 August 1665 to 11 June 1666, Henry Cuttance was her captain. ''Happy Return'' took part in the ''Four Days' Battle'' (White squadron, Van division), 14 June 1666. From 12 June 1666 to 11 October 1667, she was under Captain Francis Courtney. The quarter-gallery of the Happy Return RMG PW6974

The quarter-gallery of the Happy Return RMG PW6974

''Happy Return'' fought in both Battles of Schooneveld (25 May and 4 June 1673). By 1677. her armament had been increased from 44 to 54 guns. In 1678 she was operating in the Mediterranean, and took part in the expedition to

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

in 1681. In 1685 she was in home waters and back in the Mediterranean, where she returned in 1690. on 22 April 1690 she captured the 32-gun ship '' La Vierge de Grace''. The following year she saw convoy service off

Barfleur Barfleur () is a commune and fishing village in Manche, Normandy, northwestern France. History During the Middle Ages, Barfleur was one of the chief ports of embarkation for England. * 1066: A large medallion fixed to a rock in the harbour ...

''Happy Return'' was amongst those warships led by HMS ''Gloucester'' which was commissioned to convey

James Stuart, Duke of York James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...

(the future King James II of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) to Scotland. On 6 May 1682, ''Gloucester'' struck a sandbank off the

coast, and quickly sank. The Duke was saved, but as many as 250 people drowned, including members of the royal party. On 4 November 1691, ''Happy Return'' was captured by French

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s off

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Happy Return (1654) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1650s ships Captured ships