HMS ''Culloden'' was a

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

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 thi ...

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 Fr ...

, 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 ...

, England, and launched on 18 May 1776. She was the fourth

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...

to be named after the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...

, which took place in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in 1746 and saw the defeat of the

Jacobite rising Jacobitism (; gd, Seumasachas, ; ga, Seacaibíteachas, ) was a political movement that supported the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British throne. The name derives from the first name ...

. She served with the

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history the ...

during the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. May, 1778 under command of Capt. George Balfour. She saw action at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, before being sent out to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. Her stay there was brief, sailing for New York City with Admiral Rodney in August 1780 to join the North American station. The ship's specific duties were to blockade the French at

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

where a French army of 6,000 had disembarked in July 1780. Culloden-diorama

On 23 January 1781, while trying to intercept French ships attempting to run the blockade at

, ''Culloden'' encountered severe weather and ran aground at North Neck Point (Will's Point) in Montauk. All attempts to refloat the vessel were unsuccessful, but all the crew were saved, and ''Culloden's'' masts were taken aboard .Ships of the Old Navy, ''Culloden''. The area is today known as

Culloden Point Culloden Point is a small peninsula north of Montauk, New York, that marks the east entrance to Fort Pond Bay from Gardiners Bay. HMS ''Culloden'' During the American Revolutionary War, the British ship of the line ran aground here early on Ja ...

Salvage operations

The British conducted salvage operations on the ship throughout March, retrieving all 28 eighteen-pounder guns from the upper deck, and all 18 nine-pounders from the

quarterdeck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...

. The larger cannons were pushed into the sea and the ship was then burned to the waterline and abandoned.New York Historic Places Documents Imaging Project, ''Culloden''. On 24 July 1781, Joseph Woodbridge of

Groton, Connecticut Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is ...

sent a letter to

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

offering to sell him sixteen 32-pounders from the wreck, and on 14 July 1815, Samuel Jeffers arrived in

with 12 tons of pig iron and a 32-pounder from the wreck. In 1971 Henry W. Moeller, an undersea archaeologist associated with

Dowling College Dowling College was a private college on Long Island, New York. It was established in 1968 and had its main campus located in Oakdale, New York on the site of William K. Vanderbilt's mansion Idle Hour. Dowling also included a campus in Shirley, ...

, discovered the keel and large wooden beams resting in between and of water off Culloden Point. A

gudgeon A gudgeon is a socket-like, cylindrical (i.e., ''female'') fitting attached to one component to enable a pivoting or hinging connection to a second component. The second component carries a pintle fitting, the male counterpart to the gudgeon, e ...

imprinted with the name ''Culloden'' was recovered. Subsequent recovery efforts brought up another 32-pounder cannon as well as

copper sheathing Copper sheathing is the practice of protecting the under-water hull of a ship or boat from the corrosive effects of salt water and biofouling through the use of copper plates affixed to the outside of the hull. It was pioneered and developed b ...

. A sketch of the outline of the ruins showed the ship resting on a large boulder.

National Register of Historic Places

Since 1979 the wreck site has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

, which prohibits

SCUBA Scuba may refer to: * Scuba diving ** Scuba set, the equipment used for scuba (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) diving * Scuba, an in-memory database developed by Facebook * Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array, either of two in ...

divers from taking artifacts from, or otherwise disturbing the wreck.New England Shipwrecks, ''Culloden''. The designated area is a 'circle with a radius of approximately and a centre at the point formed by UTM coordinates 251370 4550810 19T. The application notes that in addition to Revolutionary War connections, the shipwreck is important for showing the British state-of-the-art copper sheathing of the ship as well as the possibility that it may reveal problems about corruption in the British shipyards at the time. The application notes:

Finally, the Culloden shipwreck site may provide material insight into the political conditions existent in the
British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of i ...
during this period. James 926:7-18has written describing the strength and organization of the Royal Navy at the end of 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 ...
(1755–1762) and its subsequent dissipation between 1771 and 1778 through mismanagement and corruption under
Lord Sandwich Earl of Sandwich is a noble title in the Peerage of England, held since its creation by the House of Montagu. It is nominally associated with Sandwich, Kent. It was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montagu. ...
's control of the Admiralty. Construction of the Culloden occurred during the period that Admiralty corruption was at its height. Therefore, the Culloden may reflect in material terms corrupt practices plaguing England's shipyards at the time. Construction shortcuts and the manufacturing of parts that do not meet specifications have long characterized the defense industry of all nations. The Culloden shipwreck site may provide data illustrating this activity.

Citations and notes

References

''Culloden'', H.M.S., Shipwreck Site
. New York's State and National Registers of Historic Places Document Imaging Project. Retrieved 2 September 2008.

Hunting New England Shipwrecks. Retrieved 2 September 2008. * Michael Phillips
''Culloden'' (74) (1776)
Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 2 September 2008.

National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 2 September 2008. * * Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Culloden (1776) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Culloden-class ships of the line Shipwrecks of the New York (state) coast East Hampton (town), New York New York (state) in the American Revolution Military units and formations of Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) 1776 ships Maritime incidents in 1781 Ships built in Deptford National Register of Historic Places in Suffolk County, New York American Revolution on the National Register of Historic Places Corruption in England