HMS ''Augusta'' 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 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 ...
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 1 July 1736.
''Augusta'' was active in the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
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†...
.
Arthur Forrest became the ship's commander in 1757. On 23 December 1757 she sighted an armed 9-ship French convoy off of
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
, which was disguised under neutral Dutch flags. The convoy, led by the 32-gun ''Le Mars'', wrongly assumed ''Augusta'' was a Dutch warship. Forrest fired a broadside at ''Le Mars'' that resulted in the ship's surrender, as well was the capitulation of the entire convoy. Forrest and ''Augusta'' captured the 400-ton French ship ''Pallas'' after a 5-day chase in October 1758. The prize, laden with oil, wine, and other goods, was valued at over two million
livres
The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France.
The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 gr ...
.
''Augusta'' served until 1765, when she was broken up.
This British ship served as the inspiration to Danish shipbuilder
Andreas Gerner
Andreas Gerner was a Danish naval officer who was also employed in the building of ships for the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy.
Personal
Gerner was the grandson of Henrik Gerner
Henrik Gerner (1742–1787) was a Danish naval officer who specialised ...
in designing the 50-gun ship-of-the-line . Senior lieutenant A Gerner had been impressed by ''Augusta''s sailing qualities while he was on a study tour of Britain during the 1730s.
[Royal Danish Naval Museu]
database - Fyen
(click ''vis'' for plans and notes)
Notes
References
* Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. .
Ships of the line of the Royal Navy
1730s ships
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