Henry Adams (1713–1805) was a British Master Shipbuilder. He lived and worked at

Bucklers Hard Buckler's Hard is a hamlet on the banks of the Beaulieu River in the English county of Hampshire. With its Georgian cottages running down to the river, Buckler's Hard is part of the Beaulieu Estate. The hamlet is some south of the village of ...

between 1744 and 1805. His home is now The Master Shipbuilders House Hotel in Buckler's Hard. He was responsible for building many famous warships during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Life

Henry Adams was born in 1713, the son of Anthony Adams, a

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 ...

Deptford Royal 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 ...

. Following his father into trade, in 1726 Adams was apprenticed to the foreman of the dockyard, Benjamin Slade. Adams branched out in 1744, moving to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

as naval overseer for the construction of the 20-gun

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 ...

HMS ''Surprize'' at Buckler's Hard. In 1747 he married Elizabeth Smith of Beaulieu; they would go on to have two children who died in childhood before the death of Elizabeth in 1759. Buckler's Hard, at the time owned by James Wyatt, was in financial difficulties throughout this period. In March 1748 Adams took it over from Wyatt, being supported in his acquisition by

John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, (1690 – 5 July 1749), styled Viscount Monthermer until 1705 and Marquess of Monthermer between 1705 and 1709, was a British peer. Life Montagu was an owner of a coal mine. Montagu went on the grand tour wi ...

. In 1748, Henry Adams was successful in securing his first Admiralty contract, to construct the 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 ...

vessel . ''Mermaid'' was launched in May 1749 from the yard. As well as building merchant vessels, Adams received further contracts for several Royal Navy ships, including two 24-gun ships in 1756 and two 32-gun ships in 1757 and 1758. Further contracts included the 28-gun launched in 1773, the 28-gun also launched in 1773, and launched in 1779. Several of the figureheads, including that of ''Triton'' were built to a design by Adams. Adams contracts with the Royal Navy culminated in the construction of larger

sailing 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 ...

s, including several

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 ...

ships 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 colum ...

. These included the 74-gun .Buckler's Hard - Henry Adams
, New Forest National Park Website, Accessed 06-02-2009. ''Agamemnon'' was ordered on 5 February 1777 and launched on 10 April 1781. was also built under direction of Adams, being launched in January 1783. He was responsible for the construction of which saw fame under Captain Sir

Edward Pellew Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. His younger brother ...

during the action of 13 January 1797. He was also responsible for building , a 74-gun third rate that was launched in July 1789. Two of the final ships built under this control at Buckler's Hard were and during which his sons, Balthazar Adams and Edward Adams, took over control of the business from their father.

Citations

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Henry English shipbuilders 1713 births 1805 deaths