Nassau (64)
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Origin and History
The ship was built at Chatham and launched in 1740.
During the Seven Years' War, the ship was under the command of:
- from 1756 to at least December 1758: captain James Sayer
The ship was sold in 1770.
Service during the War
In the latter part of May 1756, the ship was part of commodore Broderick's squadron of 5 ships of the line which had been sent from Great Britain to the Mediterranean to reinforce Byng fleet. The squadron arrived at Gibraltar on June 15 where it joined Byng's fleet which had been defeated at the battle of Minorca on May 20.
In 1757, the ship was part of admiral Holbourne's squadron which left Ireland on May 5 for the planned expedition against Louisbourg. By July 10, the entire squadron was finally at anchor before Halifax where it made its junction with Hardy's squadron. However on August, when the combined fleet was ready to set sail, Louisbourg had already been reinforced by three French squadron and governor Loudon canceled the whole enterprise. Holbourne's squadron stayed off Louisbourg till September 25 when it was shattered by a most terrible storm. It then returned to Great Britain in a very bad condition.
In March and April 1758, the ship took part to the expedition against Fort Louis in Senegal. She sailed from Plymouth on March 9 as part of Marsh's small squadron. This British force captured Fort Louis on May 1. Marsh's squadron then sailed for the island of Gorée and attacked it on May 24, retiring badly mauled after a cannonade of more then 2 hours. The ship then returned to Great Britain with such trade as was bound thither. In October, the ship was part of commodore Augustus Keppel's squadron assigned to the expedition against Gorée in Sénégal. On October 26, the fleet embarked some troops at Kinsale in Ireland and sailed off on November 11. On December 29, the squadron bombarded Gorée, soon silencing the French batteries and forcing the town to surrender. The squadron then escorted the British troops to Sénégal where they would take station and returned to Great Britain.
In May or June 1759, the ship reinforced the fleet of commodore Moore who had just participated in the expedition against the Martinique and Guadeloupe islands.
To do: campaigns from 1760 to 1763
Characteristics
| Guns | 64
| ||||||
| Crew | 480 | ||||||
| Length | ??? | ||||||
| Width | ??? | ||||||
| Depth | ??? | ||||||
| Displacement | ??? |
References
Anonymous, A Complete History of the Present War, from its Commencement in 1756, to the End of the Campaign, 1760, London, 1761, pp. 202-205, 233-235, 334
Clowes, Wm. Laird, The Royal Navy – A History from the Earliest Time to the Present, Vol. III, Sampson Low, Marston and Company, London: 1898, pp. 146-160
Phillip, Michael, 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.
