HMS ''Monmouth'' was a 66-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 ...

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 ...

, and was likely named for

James, Duke of Monmouth James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch, KG, PC (9 April 1649 – 15 July 1685) was a Dutch-born English nobleman and military officer. Originally called James Crofts or James Fitzroy, he was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlan ...

. She served from 1667 to 1767, winning ten battle honours over a century of active service. She was rebuilt a total of three times during her career—each time effectively becoming a completely new ship. She was built at

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...

in 1667 by Phineas Pett II—seeing action whilst still in the Thames, during the

Raid on the Medway The Raid on the Medway, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in June 1667, was a successful attack conducted by the Dutch navy on English warships laid up in the fleet anchorages off Chatham Dockyard and Gillingham in the county of Kent. At the ...

, and fought at the

Battle of Solebay The naval Battle of Solebay took place on 28 May Old Style, 7 June New Style 1672 and was the first naval battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War. The battle began as an attempted raid on Solebay port where an English fleet was anchored and large ...

in 1672, shortly followed by the

Battle of Texel The naval Battle of Texel or Battle of Kijkduin took place off the southern coast of island of Texel on 21 August 1673 (11 August Old Style, O.S.) between the Dutch Republic, Dutch and the combined Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Fra ...

in 1673. She fought at the

Battle of Barfleur The action at Barfleur was part of the battle of Barfleur-La Hougue during the War of the Grand Alliance. A French fleet under Anne Hilarion de Tourville was seeking to cover an invasion of England by a French army to restore James II to the ...

in 1692. ''Monmouth'' underwent her first rebuild at

Woolwich Dockyard Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich in north-west Kent, where many ships were built from the early 1 ...

in 1700, remaining a 66-gun ship. She fought at the

Battle of Vigo Bay The Battle of Vigo Bay, also known as the Battle of Rande (; ), was a naval engagement fought on 23 October 1702 during the opening years of the War of the Spanish Succession. The engagement followed an Anglo-Dutch attempt to capture the Spanish ...

in 1702 under Admiral John Baker who was also captain at the

Capture of Gibraltar The Capture of Gibraltar by Anglo-Dutch forces of the Grand Alliance occurred between 1 and 4 August 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. Since the beginning of the war the Alliance had been looking for a harbour in the Iberian Penins ...

and the Battle of Málaga in 1704. In 1707, she had belonged to

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Sir

Cloudesley Shovell Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell (c. November 1650 – 22 or 23 October 1707) was an English naval officer. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay and then at the Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. ...

's fleet. She saw action during the unsuccessful Battle of Toulon and was present during the great naval disaster off the Isles of Scilly when Shovell and four of his ships ( ''Association'', ''Firebrand'', ''Romney'' and ''Eagle'') were lost, claiming the lives of nearly 2,000 sailors. ''Monmouth'' suffered little to no damage and finally managed to reach

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 ...

. Her second rebuild was carried out at

Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...

, where she was increased to a 70-gun ship built according to the

1706 Establishment The 1706 Establishment was the first formal set of dimensions for ships of the Royal Navy. Two previous sets of dimensions had existed before, though these were only for specific shipbuilding programs running for only a given amount of time. In c ...

, and relaunched on 3 June 1718. On 7 September 1739 ''Monmouth'' was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt for what was to be the final time at

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

according to the 1733 proposals of 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 ...

. She was relaunched on 6 September 1742. In 1747, she fought at Finisterre and Ushant. On 2 March 1747 ''Monmouth'', Captain Henry Harrison, brought into Plymouth a French privateer of 20 carriage guns and eight

swivel gun The term swivel gun (or simply swivel) usually refers to a small cannon, mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun wi ...

s. The privateer was the ''Comte de Maurepas'' and capturing her required a chase of three days. At about the same time ''Monmouth'' captured the privateer ''Queen of Hungary''. In 1758 ''Monmouth'' captured the larger French ship '' Foudroyant''.Capture of ''Foudroyant'', NMM. After Monmouth's commander, Captain Arthur Gardiner (formerly Byng's flag captain), was severely wounded by a strike of

grape shot Grapeshot is a type of artillery round invented by a British Officer during the Napoleonic Wars. It was used mainly as an anti infantry round, but had other uses in naval combat. In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of ammunition that consists of ...

on the

forehead In human anatomy, the forehead is an area of the head bounded by three features, two of the skull and one of the scalp. The top of the forehead is marked by the hairline, the edge of the area where hair on the scalp grows. The bottom of the fore ...

and taken below deck, the four ship's lieutenants (Robert Carkett, David Winzar, Stephen Hammick and Lt Campbell) continued the battle. Second Lt Stephen Hammick was the commander of the lower gundeck and a poem was composed by the

Colley Cibber Colley Cibber (6 November 1671 – 11 December 1757) was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir ''Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber'' (1740) describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling ...

which ran: "Whilst gallant Hammick points his guns with care, not one random shot he fires in the air....etc." The battle was concluded after the arrival of HMS ''Swiftsure'', who delivered the final volley. The captain of the ''Foudroyant'', M. le Marquis de Quesne, after surrendering his ship to Lt Carkett on the Monmouth, preferred to hand his sword to Carkett, for whom he had the greatest admiration. The total losses on the Monmouth were 29 killed and 81 wounded. The dead, including Captain Gardiner, were buried at sea near Cape de Gata on the afternoon of Saturday 4 March. The ship was then taken to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

for repair.Famous Fighters of the Fleet, E. Fraser 1904 In a small twist of fate, the Foudroyant was later to be commanded by Nelson - who was a cousin of Lt Hammick. ''Monmouth'' was also present at

Belle Île Belle-Île, Belle-Île-en-Mer, or Belle Isle ( br, Ar Gerveur, ; br, label=Old Breton, Guedel) is a French island off the coast of Brittany in the ''département'' of Morbihan, and the largest of Brittany's islands. It is from the Quiberon pe ...

in 1761. After a hundred years of service, she was finally broken up in 1767; a newspaper of the time gave her epitaph as

Notes

References

*Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. .
The capture of the ''Foudroyant'' by HMS ''Monmouth''
National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 1 December 2007.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monmouth (1667) Ships built in Chatham Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1660s ships