HMS ''Rose'' was a 28-gun
sixth-rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works and ...
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
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 ...
. ''Rose'' was first
commissioned in August 1783 under the command of Captain James Hawkins.
Fate
''Rose'', under the command of Captain Matthew Scott, left
Port Royal
Port Royal is a village located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping and co ...
, Jamaica on 26 June 1794. The next day she encountered a merchant vessel that passed on the news that Admiral Sir
John Jervis and his fleet were off Basse Terre, which news led Scott to attempt to meet up with them. The night of 28 June was dark and rain squalls hid the sound of breakers, with the result that at 9pm ''Rose'' hit a reef off Rocky Point, Jamaica. The crew threw guns overboard and cut away her anchors, top masts and mizzen-mast, all in a futile attempt to lighten her and get her off the rocks. In the morning, as she filled with water, her crew abandoned ship in her boats and on rafts that they fashioned out of booms and spars.
Citations
References
*
* Robert Gardiner, ''The First Frigates'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. .
* David Lyon, ''The Sailing Navy List'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. .
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose (1783)
1783 ships
Sixth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy
Maritime incidents in 1794