Baltimore (14)
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Origin and History
The sloop of war was built by Thomas West at the Deptford dockyard and launched on December 30 1742.
During the War of the Austrian Succession, the sloop cruised off Portugal in 1742 and 1744. On May 9 1744, she captured a 4-guns brigantine. On July 18 of the same year, she engaged and captured the French privateer Nymphe (10), loosing 15 killed and wounded in the action. On March 1 1746, the sloop covered a failed attempt at landing at Killarndy Barns. On May 1 of the same year, along with the Terror, she was intercepted by 2 French privateers and severely damaged.
In September 1758, the sloop was concerted into a bomb.
During the Seven Years' War, the sloop of war was under the command of:
- from December 1755 to 1757: commander Thomas Owen
- in 1758: commander Robert Jocelyn
- from February 9 1759 to 1760: commander Robert Carpenter
- from January 9 1760 to 1761: commander William Mainwaring
- from October 30 1761 to December 1762: commander Stephen Hammick
The sloop of war was sold out of the navy on December 16 1762.
Service during the War
On July 13 1756, the sloop sailed for North Carolina.
In 1757, the sloop was stationed at Halifax.
In September 1758, the sloop began conversion to a bomb vessel at Portsmouth.
In February 1759, the bomb ketch sailed from Spithead in Great Britain as part of the fleet destined for the expedition against Québec. The voyage was long and tedious. On April 21, when the fleet finally reached Louisbourg, it was to find the harbour blocked with ice, so that the fleet made for Halifax instead. The fleet finally sailed for Louisbourg in May. Between June 1 and 6, the fleet gradually left the harbour of Louisbourg and sailed for Québec. On June 23, Saunders' fleet made a junction with Durell's squadron at Isles-aux-Coudres. On June 26, the whole British fleet of vice-admiral Saunders was anchored safely off the southern shore of Isle-d'Orléans, a few km below Québec without loosing a single ship. Québec finally surrendered on September 18 1759. At the end of October, vice-admiral Saunders fired his farewell salute and dropped down the Saint-Laurent river with his fleet on his way to Great Britain.
To do: more details on the campaign from 1760 to 1762
Characteristics
| Guns | 14 until September 1758, then 8
| ||||||
| Crew | not available | ||||||
| Length at gundeck | 89 ft (27.13 m.) | ||||||
| Width | 23 ft 3 in (7.7 m.) | ||||||
| Depth | 10 ft 6 in (3.2 m.) | ||||||
| Displacement | 250 long tons |
References
Blasco, Manuel, 3 Decks Wiki
Phillips, M., Michael Phillip's Ships of the Old Navy
N.B.: the section Service during the War is mostly derived from our articles depicting the various campaigns, battles and sieges.
