Sir Henry Peake (1753–1825) was a shipbuilder and designer to the Royal Navy who rose to be Surveyor of the Navy.

Life

He was born in 1753 in (or close to) Portsmouth. He joined the Royal Navy in May 1762 aged only 9, as an apprentice ship's carpenter. "Henry Peake" who is noted as Master Boat Builder at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1762 clearly cannot be the same person and this is probably his father. The Royal Navy list his works from 1779 when he became Master Shipwright at Sheerness Dockyard. In June 1806 he replaced

Sir John Henslow Sir John Henslow (9 October 1730 – 22 September 1815) was Surveyor to the Navy (Royal Navy) a post he held jointly or solely from 1784 to 1806. Career He was 7th child of John Henslow a master carpenter in the dockyard at Woolwich

as Surveyor of the Navy, working alongside

Sir William Rule ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

. Hos position as Surveyor of the Navy was filled by Ropert Seppings in 1813 but he did not officially retire until 1822. He was knighted by the Prince Regent on 25 June 1814. Peake died in 1825.

Family

He was married to Sarah Ladd. They had several sons who became eminent Royal Navy officers: *Admiral Thomas Ladd Peake (1782-1865) *Commander William Peake (1780-1813) killed on HMS Peacock *James Peake *Commander Henry Frederick PeakeDictionary of Naval Biography: Henry Peake

Ships built

HMS Polyphemus (1782) HMS ''Polyphemus'', a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 April 1782 at Sheerness. She participated in the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen, the Battle of Trafalgar, and the Siege of Santo Domingo. In 1813 she became ...

64-gun

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 ...

launched at Sheerness *

HMS Europa (1783) HMS ''Europa'' was a 50-gun fourth-rate of the Royal Navy, built by Woolwich Dockyard in 1783. ''Europa'' was based out of Jamaica, and ran aground at Montego Bay in 1785, but was not seriously damaged. When reports of the outbreak of the Frenc ...

50-gun ship of the line launched at Woolwich *

HMS Vanguard (1787) HMS ''Vanguard'' was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 March 1787 at Deptford.Lavery, ''Ships of the Line'' vol.1, p180. She was the sixth vessel to bear the name. In December 1797, Captain Edward Berry ...

74-gun ship of the line launched at Deptford *

HMS Grampus (1802) HMS ''Grampus'' was a 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the ''Diomede'' class of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1802 Napoleonic Wars She was commissioned in March 1803 at Portsmouth by Captain Hugh Downman, but in the following ...

50-gun ship of the line launched at Portsmouth * HMS Colossus (1803) 74-gun ship of the line launched at Deptford *Royal Sovereign (1804) unarmed yacht launched at Deptford *

HMS Hebe (1804) Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Hebe'', after the Greek goddess Hebe (mythology), Hebe. * was a French 38-gun sailing frigate, frigate captured in 1782, renamed ''Blonde'' in 1805, and broken up in 1811. * was a 32-gun fifth ...

32-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 ...

launched at Deptford *

HMS Arrow (1805) Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Arrow'', after the projectile: * , a 20-gun sloop launched in 1796 that the French frigates and captured near Gibraltar on 4 February 1805; she sank the same day * , a 14-gun cutter launched ...

14-gun

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

launched at Deptford *

HMS Minerva (1805) HMS ''Minerva'' was a 32-gun fifth-rate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1805 at Deptford. Her namesake was the Roman goddess Minerva. A wartime lack of building materials meant that ''Minerva'' and her class were built to the outdated 50-year ...

32-gun frigate launched at Deptford

Ships designed

Note: dates in brackets represent date of design not launch) * HMS Brunswick (1786) 74-gun ship of the line launched in 1790 *

HMS Bermuda Eight vessels of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Bermuda'', after the island of Bermuda. * was a 14-gun brig-sloop purchased in 1795 that disappeared in September 1796 in the Gulf of Florida. * was an 18-gun sloop-of-war launched i ...

(1806) 10-gun sloop *

Cherokee-class brig-sloop The ''Cherokee'' class was a class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy, mounting ten guns. Brig-sloops were sloops-of-war with two masts (a fore mast and a taller main mast) rather than the three masts of ''ship sloops''. Orders for 115 vessels w ...

(1807) a series of over one hundred 10-gun sloop *

HMS Rapid Nine ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Rapid'': * was a 12-gun gun-brig launched in 1804 and sunk in 1808. * was a British schooner that the French captured in 1806, named ''Villaret'' and renamed ''Rapide'', that the British ...

(1808) 16-gun sloop * Pygmy-class schooner (1809) 10-gun schooner *

Vesuvius-class sloop The ''Vesuvius'' class was a class of steam screw sloops of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The class comprised ''Vesuvius'', ''Cornelis Dirks'', ''Reinier Claessen'', ''Het Loo'', ''Reteh'' and ''Prinses Maria''. Dutch Naval Plans in the 1850s Plan ...

(1812) 10-gun sloop equipped as a bomb vessel * Fury-class sloop (1813) 12-gun sloop equipped as a bomb vessel * HMS Waterloo (1813) 80-gun ship of the line launched in 1818

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peake, Henry 1825 deaths Surveyors of the Navy 1753 births