HMS ''Northumberland'' was a 70-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 ...
, built at
Plymouth Dockyard
His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roy ...
to the draught specified by the
1745 Establishment
The 1745 Establishment was the third and final formal establishment of dimensions for ships to be built for the Royal Navy. It completely superseded the previous 1719 Establishment, which had subsequently been modified in 1733 and again in 1741 ...
, and launched on 1 December 1750.
During the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754†...
''Northumberland'' was the flagship of Lord
Alexander Collville
Vice-Admiral Alexander Colville, 7th Lord Colville of Culross (also spelled Colvill) (28 February 1717 – 21 May 1770), served as the Commodore and Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels in North America from 1757 to 1762. Col ...
from 1753 to 1762, and under the captaincy of
William Adams until 1760 and Nathaniel Bateman from 1760 to 1762. Future explorer
James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
served as
ship's master
The master, or sailing master, is a historical rank for a naval officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing vessel. The rank can be equated to a professional seaman and specialist in navigation, rather than as a military ...
from 1759 to 1761.
[Robson 2009, p. 95]
''Northumberland'' was later classified as a storeship and was renamed ''Leviathan'' on 13 September 1777. She foundered on 27 February 1780 whilst sailing from
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 ...
to Britain.
[Ships of the Old Navy, ''Northumberland''.]
Notes
References
*
* Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. .
*
* Phillips, Michael
''Northumberland'' (70) (1750) Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
* Winfield, Rif (2007) ''British Warships in the Age of Sail: 1714–1792.'' Seaforth Publishing. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northumberland (1750)
Ships of the line of the Royal Navy
1750 ships
Maritime incidents in 1780