Preston (50)
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Origin and History
The ship was initially built Adam Hayes at Deptford dockyard and launched on February 7 1757.
During the Seven Years' War, the ship was under the command of:
- from 1757 to at least 1759: captain John Evans
The ship was hulked in 1785 and broken up in January 1815.
Service during the War
At the beginning of 1758, a British squadron of 11 ships of the line and 9 frigates operated in the Mediterranean under the command of admiral Henry Osborn. This squadron intercepted a smaller French squadron which had sailed from Toulon for North America, forcing it to take refuge in the harbour of Cartagena. In February, the French sent a relief squadron (only 5 ships of the line and a frigate) under M. Duquesne. On February 28, off Cape de Gata, Osborn sighted these 4 sail near his fleet and ordered them to be chased while the main part of the British squadron continued off Carthagena to watch the French ships there. The Revenge (64) brought the Orphée (64) to action and, on the Berwick (70) and Preston coming up, the Orphée struck.
In the summer and autumn of 1759, the ship was part of commodore William Boys' squadron blockading the French squadron of Thurot at Dunkerque. In October, Boys' squadron was driven from his station by a gale. On October 15 at 5:00 PM, Thurot seized the opportunity, slipped out through a thick fog and made to the northward. Boys followed as soon as possible but was not able to overtake Thurot. Ultimately, Boys contented himself with cruising off the coast of Scotland with the object of preventing any sudden raid there.
To do: campaigns from 1760 to 1762
Characteristics
| Guns | 50
| ||||||||
| Crew | ??? | ||||||||
| Length at gundeck | 150 ft (45.7 m) | ||||||||
| Width | 42 ft 8 in (13.0 m) | ||||||||
| Depth | 18 ft 6 in (5.6 m) | ||||||||
| Displacement | 1,044 long tons (1,060.8 t) |
References
Blasco, Manuel, British 4th Rates, 3 Decks Wiki
Clowes, Wm. Laird, The Royal Navy – A History from the Earliest Time to the Present, Vol. III, Sampson Low, Marston and Company, London: 1898, p. 189-190
Phillips, M., Michael Phillip's Ships of the Old Navy
- HMS Preston (1757)
N.B.: the section Service during the War is mostly derived from our articles depicting the various campaigns, battles and sieges.
