HMS St Michael was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by John Tippetts of Portsmouth Dockyard and launched in 1669.[1]

Marlborough after the Battle of Toulon (1744)
History
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
NameHMS St Michael
BuilderTippetts, Portsmouth Dockyard
Launched1669
RenamedHMS Marlborough, 1706
FateWrecked, 29 November 1762
General characteristics as built[1]
Class and type90-gun second rate ship of the line
Tons burthen1101 bm
Length125 ft (38 m) (keel)
Beam40 ft 8+12 in (12.408 m)
Depth of hold17 ft 5 in (5.31 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament90 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1706 rebuild[2]
Class and type90-gun second rate ship of the line
Tons burthen1579 bm
Length162 ft 8 in (49.58 m) (gundeck)
Beam47 ft 4 in (14.43 m)
Depth of hold18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament90 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1732 rebuild[3]
Class and type1719 Establishment 90-gun second rate ship of the line
Tons burthen1567 bm
Length164 ft (50 m) (gundeck)
Beam47 ft 2 in (14.38 m)
Depth of hold18 ft 10 in (5.74 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • 90 guns:
  • Gundeck: 26 × 32 pdrs
  • Middle gundeck: 26 × 18 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 26 × 9 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 10 × 6 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6 pdrs

St Michael was rebuilt at Blackwall Yard in 1706, at which time she was also renamed HMS Marlborough.[2] On 5 April 1725 Marlborough was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at Chatham. She was relaunched on 25 September 1732.[3]

On 11 February 1744 during the Battle of Toulon. Marlborough and Namur bore the brunt of the Spanish fire, her captain James Cornewall, and 42 crew were killed and 120 wounded out of her crew of 750 men.[4] Command passed to his distant cousin, Frederick Cornewall, the First Lieutenant, who was severely wounded and lost his right arm. Cornewall was buried at sea.

Marlbrough, 74 Guns commanded by Sir John Bentley 1744, sketched by his clerk, John Hood

Marlborough was reduced to a 68-gun ship in 1752.[3]

Marlborough shown here as a member Sir George Pocock's Blue Squadron, circa 1762

She formed part of Sir George Pocock's fleet at the taking of Havana from the Spanish in 1762. Whilst making her way back to Britain she was caught in very heavy weather, and on 29 November 1762 her crew were forced to abandon ship, all of her crew being taken off by a passing HMS Antelope before she sank.[5] Her Captain Thomas Burnett was court martialled as a result, and although exonerated would not regain a command until 1770.[6]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Lavery, The Ship of the Line vol.1, p161.
  2. ^ a b Lavery, The Ship of the Line vol.1, p166.
  3. ^ a b c Lavery, The Ship of the Line vol.1, p169.
  4. ^ Mathews, Thomas (1744). Narrative of the Proceedings of his Majesty's Fleet in the Mediterranean (3rd ed.). London. p. 118.
  5. ^ Ships of the Old Navy, Marlborough.
  6. ^ McLeod, Anne Byrne (2010). The Mid-Eighteenth Century Navy from the Perspective of Captain Thomas Burnett and his Peers (Ph.D. thesis). University of Exeter.

References

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  • Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
  • Michael Phillips. Marlborough (96) (1706). Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 6 December 2007.