The English ship ''Speaker'' was a 50-gun
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 ...
. ''Speaker'' was 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 execu ...
by
Christopher Pett
Christopher Pett (1620–1668) was an English shipbuilder for the Royal Navy and part of the Pett dynasty of shipbuilders. He is mentioned in the Diary of Samuel Pepys.
History
He was born on 4 May 1620, the eleventh child of many children ...
at
Woolwich Dockyard
Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich in north-west Kent, where many ships were built from the early 16th century until th ...
and launched in 1650. At
the Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
she was renamed HMS ''Mary''. She was the prototype of the .
In 1688, HMS ''Mary'' was rebuilt by
Thomas Shish at
Woolwich Dockyard
Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich in north-west Kent, where many ships were built from the early 16th century until th ...
as a 62-gun third-rate
ship of the line. The ship was wrecked on the
Goodwin Sands
Goodwin Sands is a sandbank at the southern end of the North Sea lying off the Deal coast in Kent, England. The area consists of a layer of approximately depth of fine sand resting on an Upper Chalk platform belonging to the same geologi ...
in the
Great Storm of 1703
The great storm of 1703 was a destructive extratropical cyclone that struck central and southern England on 26 November 1703. High winds caused 2,000 chimney stacks to collapse in London and damaged the New Forest, which lost 4,000 oaks. Ships wer ...
. Almost all who were aboard were drowned, including Rear-Admiral
Basil Beaumont.
Description and early history
The English ship ''Speaker'' was a 50-gun
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 ...
and the name ship of the . She was built by
Christopher Pett
Christopher Pett (1620–1668) was an English shipbuilder for the Royal Navy and part of the Pett dynasty of shipbuilders. He is mentioned in the Diary of Samuel Pepys.
History
He was born on 4 May 1620, the eleventh child of many children ...
, as one of a pair of
flagships for the Winter Guard of 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 execu ...
. Built at
Woolwich Dockyard
Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich in north-west Kent, where many ships were built from the early 16th century until th ...
, she was launched in 1650.
''Speaker''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 r ...
was 727 tons
burthen. She had a length of , and two decks, designed to accommodate the
admiral and his officers. The ship had a breadth of . Originally designed to have 44 guns, the armament was increased to 50 guns in October 1649, and 56 guns by 1653. This was increased again to 60 guns between 1655 and 1660.
''Speaker'' participated in the
Battle of the Gabbard
The naval Battle of the Gabbard, also known as the Battle of Gabbard Bank, the Battle of the North Foreland or the Second Battle of Nieuwpoort took place on 2–3 June 1653 (12–13 June 1653 Gregorian calendar). during the First Anglo-Dutch War ...
in 1653, being large enough to serve as the flagship for Rear Admiral
Samuel Howett in the Rear division of the Red
squadron
Squadron may refer to:
* Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies
* Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...
.
Restoration of Charles II
''Speaker'' was part of the fleet led by
''Naseby'',
''London'',
''Richard'', and
''Swiftsure'' who collected
Charles II of England from Holland and brought him back from exile. Charles renamed the ship HMS ''Mary''.
Post-Restoration career
At
the Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
, ''Speaker'' was renamed HMS ''Mary''. By 1677 her armament had been increased to 62 guns.
In 1688, ''Mary'' was rebuilt by
Thomas Shish at
Woolwich Dockyard
Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich in north-west Kent, where many ships were built from the early 16th century until th ...
as a 62-gun third-rate
ship of the line. ''Mary'' was wrecked on the
Goodwin Sands
Goodwin Sands is a sandbank at the southern end of the North Sea lying off the Deal coast in Kent, England. The area consists of a layer of approximately depth of fine sand resting on an Upper Chalk platform belonging to the same geologi ...
in the
Great Storm of 1703
The great storm of 1703 was a destructive extratropical cyclone that struck central and southern England on 26 November 1703. High winds caused 2,000 chimney stacks to collapse in London and damaged the New Forest, which lost 4,000 oaks. Ships wer ...
. Of her 275 crew, her captain and
purser
A purser is the person on a ship principally responsible for the handling of money on board. On modern merchant ships, the purser is the officer responsible for all administration (including the ship's cargo and passenger manifests) and supply. ...
were ashore at the time of her loss; only one sailor on board survived. Rear-Admiral
Basil Beaumont however was aboard ship at the time and perished in the wreck.
Wreck site
Local divers found the wreck site in 1980.
The initial designation was of around what is now known as the South Mound; the North Mound was discovered in 1999 and the area was amended under
Statutory Instrument number 2004/2395 as a radius around 51° 15.6302' N, 01° 30.0262' E.
It is believed that ''Mary'' lies under the South Mound and the North Mound is probably the
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 ...
HMS ''Restoration'' that was wrecked in the same storm.
The site lies to the west of the Goodwin Sands off
Deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
, between the wrecks of
HMS ''Stirling Castle'' and
HMS ''Northumberland'', which also sank in the storm.
The site was investigated by
Wessex Archaeology
Wessex Archaeology is a British company that provides archaeological and heritage services, as well as being an educational charity. Apart from advice and consultancy, it also does fieldwork and publishes research on the sites it surveys. The comp ...
on 25 June 2006.
The South Mound measures but has not been studied in detail.
Legacy
''Mary'' could be considered as the first example of a
ship of the line. Although it was built before the concept of a ship of the line was developed, it some of the characteristics of such a ship.
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mary (1660)
Speaker-class ships of the line
Ships of the line of the Royal Navy
1650s ships
Ships built in Woolwich
Maritime incidents in 1703