Prince Frederick (64)

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Hierarchical Path: Seven Years War (Main Page) >> Navies >> British Navy >> Prince Frederick (64)

Origin and History

Originally built as the HMS Expedition in 1679. The ship was rebuilt in 1715 and renamed Prince Frederick. The ship was rebuilt once more by Richard Stacey at Deptford dockyard as a 70-guns ship and launched on March 18 1740.

In 1741, the ship took part to the expedition against Cartagena in Colombia.

During the Seven Years' War, the ship was under the command of:

  • in 1758: captain Robert Man
  • in 1759: captain Robert Bouth

The ship was sold on August 27 1784.

Service during the War

At the beginning of 1758, the ship was part of the fleet who assembled at Portsmouth under the command of admiral Edward Boscawen for the expedition against Louisbourg. On February 19, this fleet set sail for Halifax and finally arrived there on May 9. On May 28, the fleet sailed from Halifax and arrived in sight of Louisbourg on June 1. Throughout the siege of Louisbourg, the fleet actively supported the British army and the fortress finally surrendered on July 26.

In February 1759, the ship 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. The town finally surrendered on September 18. 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: campaigns from 1760 to 1762

Characteristics

Technical specifications
Guns 70
Gundeck 26 x 24-pdrs
Upper gundeck 26 x 12-pdrs
Quarterdeck 14 x 6-pdrs
Forecastle 4 x 6-pdrs
Crew not available
Length at gundeck 151 ft (46.0 m)
Width 43 ft 5 in (13.2 m)
Depth 17 ft 9 in (5.4 m)
Displacement 1,225 long tons (1,244.7 metric tons)

References

Blasco, Manuel, British 3rd Rates, 3 Decks Wiki

Phillips, M., Michael Phillip's Ships of the Old Navy

Wikipedia

  • HMS Expedition (1679)

N.B.: the section Service during the War is derived from our articles depicting the various campaigns, battles and sieges.