Shrewsbury (74)
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Origin and History
The ship was built by John Wells at the Deptford dockyard and launched on February 23 1758.
During the Seven Years' War, the ship was under the command of:
- from 1758 to at least 1760: captain Hugh Palliser
The ship was scuttled at Jamaica on June 15 1783.
Service during the War
In July 1758, the ship was part of lord Anson's squadron cruising off Brest to observe the movements of the French fleet.
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. From June 1 to 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.
In 1760, the ship served in the Mediterranean under the command of vice-admiral Saunders whose squadron blockaded Toulon.
In 1762, the ship, along with the Superb (60), Bedford (64) and Minerva (32), was sent to reinforce lord Colville in Newfoundland. On August 3, they arrived at St. John's.
To do: more details on the campaigns from 1760 to 1762
Characteristics
| Guns | 74
| ||||||||
| Crew | about 550 men | ||||||||
| Length at gundeck | 165 ft 6 in (50.4 m) | ||||||||
| Width | 46 ft 6 in (14.2 m) | ||||||||
| Depth | 19 ft 9 in (6.0 m) | ||||||||
| Displacement | 1594 tons (1620 tonnes) |
References
Blasco, Manuel, British 3rd Rates, 3 Decks Wiki
Phillips, M., Michael Phillip's Ships of the Old Navy
N.B.: the section Service during the War is derived from our articles depicting the various campaigns, battles and sieges.
