Dorsetshire (70)
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Origin and History
The ship was built by Edward Allin at the Portsmouth Dockyard and launched on December 13 1757.
During the Seven Years' War, the ship was under the command of:
- from January 1758 to the end of 1759: captain sir Peter Denis
- from 1760 to June 1763: captain James Campbell
The ship broken up at Chatham in March 1775.
Service during the War
On May 29 1758, the ship, along with the Achilles (60), intercepted the Raisonnable (64) which was trying to reach Louisbourg. During the engagement the French lost 61 killed and 100 wounded while the Achilles suffered 15 killed and 20 wounded. The Raisonnable finally surrendered and was incorporated into the British Royal Navy.
On November 20 1759, the ship was present at the decisive battle of Quiberon who eliminated any serious threat from the French navy for the rest of the war.
Early in the spring of 1760, the ship was part of a squadron, under the command of commodore John Byron, who convoyed workers from Great Britain to demolish the fortifications at Louisbourg. The squadron reached its destination on May 24.
On February 4 1761, the ship escorted the Seahorse (24) who sailed from Plymouth with several astronomers on board to observe the transit of Venus. Later the same year, on November 11, she captured the French privateer Henri (12). On November 30, she sailed for the Mediterranean.
Characteristics
| Guns | 70
| ||||||||
| Crew | 520 to 528 men | ||||||||
| Length | 162 feet (49,38 m) | ||||||||
| Width | 44 feet 10 inches (13,67 m) | ||||||||
| Depth | 19 feet 8 inches (5,99 m) | ||||||||
| Displacement | 1436 long tons (1459 tonnes) |
References
Blasco, Manuel, 3 Decks Wiki – British 3rd Rates
Harrison, Simon; Three Decks - Warships in the Age of Sail
Phillips, M., Michael Phillip's Ships of the Old Navy
N.B.: the section Service during the War is partly derived from our articles depicting the various campaigns, battles and sieges.
