HMS ''Nottingham'' was a 60-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 ...

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

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 ...

and launched on 10 June 1703. She was the first ship to bear the name. Commissioned under Captain Samuel Whitaker, she formed part of Admiral

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 that sailed with Admiral

Rooke Rooke is a surname, and may refer to: * Daphne Rooke (1914–2009), South African author * Sir Denis Rooke (1924–2008), English engineer * Sir George Rooke (1650–1709), English admiral * Hayman Rooke (1723–1806), English major and antiquary ...

to attack and take the formidable

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabel-al-Tariq) is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, and near the entrance to the Mediterr ...

in 1704. The ship also saw action in the

Battle of Cabrita point The Battle of Cabrita Point, also known Battle of Marbella, was a naval battle that took place while a combined Spanish-French force besieged Gibraltar on 10 March 1705 (21 March 1705 in the New Calendar) during the War of Spanish Succession. ...

in March 1705 and in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

in 1711. ''Nottingham'' was rebuilt 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 ...

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 ...

, from where she was relaunched on 5 October 1719. On 18 May 1739, orders were issued directing that ''Nottingham'' be taken to pieces and rebuilt 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 ...

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...

, from where she was relaunched on 17 August 1745. The ship, when captained by

Philip Saumarez Captain Philip de Saumarez (1710–1747) was a British naval officer, notable for his role as captain of '' HMS Nottingham'' in capturing the French ship ''Mars'' and as the first lieutenant of George Anson,1st Baron Anson in his voyage around ...

, Wikisource:Saumarez, Philip (DNB00) also attacked and captured the French ship , which was returning to France after the failed Duc d'Anville Expedition, 11 October 1746. ''Nottingham'' took

Augustin de Boschenry de Drucour Augustin de Boschenry de Drucour or de DrucourtThis latter spelling is the preferred one in French. His birthplace, :fr:Drucourt, Drucourt, has been spelled with a final t since the 12th century. (signed Chevalier de Drucour, baptism, baptized M ...

captive. ''Nottingham'' gained more success with the capture of the French 74-gun on 31 January 1748 under Captain

Robert Harland Robert John Yurgatis is an American stage and television actor. He is known for playing Jack Flood in the American crime drama television series '' Target: The Corruptors!''. Harland attended St. James High School for Boys, later graduating i ...

. ''Nottingham'' continued in service until 1773, when she was sunk to form part of a

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island Breakwater Island () is a small island in the Palme ...

Notes

References

* Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850''. Conway Maritime Press. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nottingham (1703) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1700s ships Ships sunk as breakwaters