Norwich (50)
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Origin and History
The ship was built by John Perry at Blackwall Yard and launched on July 4 1745.
During the Seven Years' War, the ship was under the command of:
- in 1759: captain George Darby
- in 1760: captain William McLeverty
The ship was sold on May 24 1768.
Service during the War
In January 1755, the ship along with the Centurion (60) escorted vessels transporting general Braddock's troops to America.
On July 2 1759, the ship 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 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.
During the winter of 1759-60, the ship was sent to North America to reinforce the squadron under lord Colville who conducted the relief of Québec.
To do: more details on the campaigns from 1760 to 1762
Characteristics
| Guns | 50
| ||||||||
| Crew | not available | ||||||||
| Length at gundeck | 140 ft (42.7 m) | ||||||||
| Width | 40 ft (12.3 m) | ||||||||
| Depth | 17 ft 2 in (5.2 m) | ||||||||
| Displacement | 993 long tons (1009 tonnes) |
References
Blasco, Manuel, 3 Decks Wiki – British 4th Rates
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.
