HMS ''Royal James'' was a 100-gun

first-rate In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying ...

ship of the line 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 ...

, designed by Sir Anthony Deane and built by his successor as Master Shipwright at

Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...

, Daniel Furzer, and launched in 1675. She was renamed HMS ''Victory'' on 7 March 1691 after the old

second rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer guns ...

''Victory'' of 1666 was condemned by survey and taken to pieces. Recommissioned in January 1691 under Captain Edward Stanley, as the flagship of Admiral Sir John Ashby she participated in the

Battle of Barfleur The action at Barfleur was part of the battle of Barfleur-La Hougue during the War of the Grand Alliance. A French fleet under Anne Hilarion de Tourville was seeking to cover an invasion of England by a French army to restore James II to the ...

on 19 May 1692 – 24 May 1692. ''Victory'' was rebuilt at

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century ...

in 1694–1695. She was briefly renamed ''Royal George'' in 1714, after the Hanoverians came to the throne, but resumed the name ''Victory'' in 1715. She was partly destroyed by an accidental fire in February 1721 and was broken up, though remained on the navy list until she was ostensibly rebuilt as the new .Lavery, Ships of the Line vol. 1, p. 79.

Notes

References

*Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . *Winfield, Rif (2009) ''British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603–1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates''. Seaforth Publishing. . Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1670s ships {{UK-line-ship-stub