HMS ''Nonsuch'' was a 36-gun

fifth rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal ...

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 ...

. She was an experimental fast-sailing design, built by the renowned shipwright Anthony Deane according to proposals by the Dutch naval officer Laurens van Heemskirk, who became her first captain. She was launched in December 1668, and commissioned the same day under van Heemskirk. In 1669 she was reclassed as a 42-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 ...

, being commanded from 9 April by Captain Sir John Holmes. She was to spend most of her career in the Mediterranean. She was for a time based on

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 capi ...

, and was commanded by a succession of accomplished commanders who subsequently rose to flag rank in the Navy, including

George Rooke Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Rooke (1650 – 24 January 1709) was an English naval officer. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay and again at the Battle of Schooneveld during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. As a captain, ...

from 1677 to 1680, then briefly under

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 Wa ...

, and then

Francis Wheler Sir Francis Wheler (sometimes spelt Wheeler) (1656 – 19 February 1694) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the Nine Years' War. Wheler spent the early part of his career in the Mediterranean, eventually being promoted to comm ...

from 1680 to 1681. Under Wheler's command, she participated on 9 April 1681 in the capture of the Algerine 46-gun ''Golden Horse'', along with the Fourth rate ''Adventure''. She reverted to a 36-gun fifth rate in 1691, and was recommissioned under Captain Richard Short, for service off New England. Command passed in January 1693 to Captain Thomas Dobbin, then in November 1693 to Captain Thomas Taylor. She was captured off the Scilly Isles on 4 January 1695 by the French 48-gun

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 ...

''Le François''; renamed ''Le Sans Pareil'', she subsequently served in the French Navy until 1697.

Notes

References

* * Rif Winfield, ''British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603–1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates''. Seaforth Publishing, 2009. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Nonsuch (1668), HMS Frigates of the Royal Navy 1660s ships Ships built in Portsmouth