Carcass (8)
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Origin and History
The bomb was built by Stanton and Wells at Rotherhithe and launched on January 27 1759.
During the Seven Years' War, the bomb was under the command of:
- in 1759: commander Charles Inglis
- from August 1762: commander Robert Fanshawe
The bomb was sold on August 5 1784.
Service during the War
On July 2 1759, the bomb was part of the squadron of rear-admiral George Brydges Rodney who sailed from St. Helen's to destroy the flat-bottomed boats and the supplies which had been collected at Le Havre for the projected invasion of England. On July 4 at sunrise, Rodney, with his 6 bomb ketches stationed in the channel leading to Harfleur, began the bombardment of Le Havre and of the flat-bottomed boats. The bombardment lasted for 52 hours until July 6 at 8:00 AM and 1,900 shells and 1,150 carcasses were fired on the town. Le Havre burnt furiously for 6 hours despite the continual efforts of several hundred men to extinguish the fire. This attack totally destroyed any French preparations in this town for the invasion of England. Rodney, with some of his frigates, remained off the port of Le Havre for the rest of the year, and captured numerous prizes.
In 1760, the bomb was refitted as a sloop. She captured the Mercury (10) off La Rochelle.
From February to March 1762, the sloop was refitted as a bomb vessel.
Characteristics
| Guns |
N.B.: 14 x 6-pdr guns when fitted as a sloop |
| Crew | 60 as bomb, 110 as sloop |
| Length at gundeck | 91 ft 8 in (27.94 m) |
| Width | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
| Depth | 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) fully loaded |
| Displacement | 309 tons |
References
Blasco, Manuel, Unrated 1714-1792, 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.
