HMS Mordaunt
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HMS ''Mordaunt'' was a 46-gun
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 ...
, launched 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 ...
in 1681 and in active service during the
Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...
with France. After extensive service in both European and Caribbean waters, ''Mordaunt'' foundered off the coast of
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
on 21 November 1693.


Construction

Plans for the vessel's construction were developed in the late 1670s by a private syndicate headed by
Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough and 1st Earl of Monmouth, (1658 – 25 October 1735) was an English nobleman and military leader. He was the son of John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt, and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter and sole h ...
, with the publicised intention that she be used solely as a
merchantman A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are u ...
. A contract for her construction was issued in 1680 to
William Castle William Castle (born William Schloss Jr.; April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Orphaned at 11, Castle dropped out of high school at 15 to work in the theater. He came to the attenti ...
, a commercial
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 ...
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 ...
, initially on behalf of the syndicate and then solely in the name of Charles Mordaunt. Castle set to work immediately, and construction proceeded apace. As built, the new ship was long with a keel, a
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of , and a
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depth of .Winfield 2009, p. 140 She was a large vessel, measuring 567
tons burthen Builder's Old Measurement (BOM, bm, OM, and o.m.) is the method used in England from approximately 1650 to 1849 for calculating the cargo capacity of a ship. It is a volumetric measurement of cubic capacity. It estimated the tonnage of a ship bas ...
. Castle included a total of 56 gun ports in ''Mordaunt''s design but several were too constrained by internal fittings to house a gun, and in practice the vessel was not capable of carrying more than 48 cannons. William Castle died in 1681 and construction was completed by his son, William Castle the Younger. The vessel's stern featured a carved crest displaying the Mordaunt family
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: a chevron beneath three
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.


Civilian career

Even with 48 guns, ''Mordaunt'' would be very heavily armed for a merchant craft, and there were public rumours that she was actually intended as a private warship. In early 1681 Spain's Ambassador to England wrote to
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...
expressing his fear that the vessel would be sold to the
Elector of Brandenburg This article lists the Margraves and Electors of Brandenburg during the period of time that Brandenburg was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire. The Mark, or ''March'', of Brandenburg was one of the primary constituent states of the Hol ...
, who was assembling a fleet to prey on Spanish shipping. Admiralty responded by issuing a warrant on 30 June 1681 for the seizing of the vessel, accompanied by a request that Mordaunt attend the Admiralty Court to explain his intentions in having her constructed. In advance of the hearing, Admiralty itself advised the court that ''Mordaunt'' was "built frigate-fashion and is as good a ship as His Majesty's ship he 48-gun." Charles Mordaunt appeared before the court in July to attest that the vessel was indeed a merchantman, and that the heavy armament was simply to enable her to sail without convoy protection. The Court resolved to return the vessel to Mordaunt but obliged him to guarantee that she would not be used for military purposes. The vessel was completed in 1681, and a crew of 200 were hired and brought aboard. Problems then arose with their pay, with the ship's company lodging a civil action for non-payment of wages in 1682. Admiralty again seized the vessel while this claim was being heard, but simultaneously entered negotiations for her purchase. The sale was completed on 7 October 1682 with the vessel entering Navy service as HMS ''Mordaunt''. Her crew were offered a transfer into naval service to accompany their ship, and most agreed; the civil claim was settled in their favour in May 1683 but the outstanding wages were never subsequently paid.


Naval career

The newly purchased vessel was sailed to
Deptford Dockyard Deptford Dockyard was an important naval dockyard and base at Deptford on the River Thames, operated by the Royal Navy from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It built and maintained warships for 350 years, and many significant events a ...
in late 1682, for
fitting out Fitting out, or outfitting, is the process in shipbuilding that follows the float-out/launching of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her o ...
as a Royal Navy
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 ...
. She remained at Deptford throughout 1683, finally being commissioned into active service on 20 May 1684 under the command of Captain Henry Killigrew. The
War of the Reunions The War of the Reunions (1683–84) was a conflict between France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, with limited involvement by Genoa. It can be seen as a continuation of the 1667–1668 War of Devolution and the 1672–1678 Franco–Dutch War, ...
had broken out in Europe, but Britain was at least temporarily at peace and ''Mordaunt'' was sent to cruise along the coastline of
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as protection for Britain's regional British merchant and slave-trading interests. She returned to England in 1685, where she remained for the next two years. Killigrew left the vessel in 1687, with command transferring to Captain John Ashby. Her first listed commander is Captain Henry Killigrew who took her off the west coast of Africa. In 1685 she returned to Britain and was involved in the suppression of the Argyll Uprising later that year in which she must have captured the "Sophia" as her crew were awarded a share of the £5000 prize paid by the English government in August 1685. On 4 October 1689 near the
Scilly Isles The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...
, under Captain John Tyrrell, together with HMS Foresight and HMS Lively Prize, she was involved in an unwise attack on 12 French
men-of-war The man-of-war (also man-o'-war, or simply man) was a Royal Navy expression for a powerful warship or frigate from the 16th to the 19th century. Although the term never acquired a specific meaning, it was usually reserved for a ship armed wi ...
, in which all British ships were damaged and the Lively Prize was captured. In April 1690 the Mordaunt crossed the Atlantic and sailed to the
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
. In January 1692 she joined HMS Norwich and HMS Diamond in
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 overall command of Commodore
Ralph Wrenn Ralph Wrenn (died 26 March 1692) was an English naval Commodore. Naval career On 18 April 1672 Wrenn was appointed commander of the ''Hopewell'' fireship, and in the following year of the Rose dogger. After the peace with the Dutch Republic he ...
. The ships were sent to search for the French squadron somewhere around Barbados. Unsuccessful they returned to
Carlisle Bay Carlisle Bay is a small natural harbour located in the southwest region of Barbados. The island nation's capital, Bridgetown, is situated on this bay which has been turned into a marine park. Carlisle Bay's marine park is a popular spot on the ...
on 5 February and on 17 February sailed to
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
. On 22 February 1692 now under Captain Henry Boteler, she was involved in a battle with Norwich and Diamond again but additionally joined by HMS Mary and
HMS Antelope Eleven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Antelope'', after the Antelope: * was a galleass carrying between 38 and 44 guns. She was launched in 1546, rebuilt three times and was burned by parliamentarian sailors at Hellevoetsluis in 1 ...
, in which they engaged eighteen French ships including Le Vermandois, Le Vaillant and La Legere, off the island of Desirade. Mordaunt was damaged in the attack and Ralph Wrenn (on Norwich) wounded, dying a few days later. In June 1692 she went to Jamaica where the HMS Swan had been wrecked so her crew were split between Mordaunt and HMS Guernsey. In April 1693 she unsuccessfully pursued French privateers. Later in the same month she returned from Porto Bello with 100,000
pieces of eight The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight ( es, Real de a ocho, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content ...
from the Assiento. In May 1693 the Council of Jamaica ordered the
careen Careening (also known as "heaving down") is a method of gaining access to the hull of a sailing vessel without the use of a dry dock. It is used for cleaning or repairing the hull. Before ship's hulls were protected from biofouling, marine growth ...
ing of the Mordaunt. At this stage she was under command of Captain Francis Maynard and a debate began as to whether or not she be allowed to return to England. She was obliged to stay in Jamaica and in July was sent to harass the French around
Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...
, returning to Jamaica in October. On her final mission she was escorting a convoy when she was struck by a storm off the coast of
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
. She sank with all hands (around 230 men) including Captain Maynard on 21 November 1693.


Notes


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mordaunt (1681) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1680s ships Shipwrecks