English ship Elizabeth (1647)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Elizabeth.

The Fairfax (at the forefront), with Elizabeth astern of her, and Assurance or Tiger to their left, a painting attributed to Isaac Sailmaker
History
Royal Navy EnsignCommonwealth of England
NameElizabeth
BuilderPeter Pett I, Deptford Dockyard
Launched1647
Commissioned1648
Royal Navy EnsignKingdom of England
NameElizabeth
AcquiredMay 1660
Honours and
awards		Orfordness 1666
FateBurnt in action with Dutch 5 June 1667
General characteristics
Class and type38-gun fourth rate
Tons burthen47515⁄94 bm
Length101 ft 6 in (30.9 m) keel for tonnage
Beam29 ft 8 in (9.0 m)
Depth of hold14 ft 10 in (4.5 m)
Sail planship-rigged
Complement
  • 150 1652
  • 160 1653
  • 160/130/100 1666
Armament
  • 38/32 guns initially
  • 1666
  • 12 × culverins
  • 20 × demi-culverins
  • 8 × sakers

Elizabeth was a 32/38-gun fourth rate vessel of the Kingdom of England, one of four new frigates ordered and built under the 1647 Programme (the others were the Dragon, Phoenix and Tiger). Her initial commission was in the Parliamentary Naval Force during the English Civil War. During the First Anglo-Dutch War, she missed all the major Fleet actions as much of the time she was in the Mediterranean. During the Second Anglo-Dutch War, she participated in the St James Day Fight. She was burnt by the Dutch off Virginia in March 1667.[1]

Elizabeth was the second vessel to be given that name in the English Navy, since it had been used for a 16-gun vessel, in service from 1577 to 1588.[2]

Construction and specifications

Dutch portrait of the prow of an English ship (the Elizabeth), Willem van de Velde

She was built at Deptford Dockyard on the River Thames under the guidance of Master Shipwright Peter Pett I. She was launched in 1647. Her dimensions were 101 feet 6 inches (30.9 metres) keel length with a breadth of 29 feet 8 inches (9.0 metres) and a depth in hold of 14 feet 10 inches (4.5 metres). Her builder's measure tonnage was calculated as 47515⁄94 tons.[3]

Her gun armament in 1647 was 32 guns, but by 1652 she was armed with 38 guns. In 1666, her armament was 42 (wartime)/32 (peacetime) and consisted of twelve culverins[4][Note 1] and ten demi-culverines on the lower deck,[5][Note 2] and ten more demi-culverins and ten sakers on the upper deck.[6][Note 3] Her manning was 150 personnel in 1652 and rose to 160 a year later. By 1660 her manning had dropped to 130 personnel.[7]

Commissioned service

Service in the English Civil War and Commonwealth Navy

She was commissioned into the Parliamentary Naval Force in 1648 under the command of Captain Jonas Reeves. She was at the recapture of the 14-gun Crescent in November 1648. The following year she participated in the blockade of Kinsale, Ireland in 1649. She sailed with Robert Blake's Fleet off Cadiz in 1650. She followed this with operations in the English Channel in 1651. After being incorporated into the Commonwealth Navy, she sailed with Badiley's Squadron to the Mediterranean in 1652. On 28 August 1652, she was at the Battle of Elba (Montecristo), a Dutch victory with the squadron seeking shelter at Elba. She was at the action off Leghorn on 4 March 1653. Later in 1653, she was under command of Captain Christopher Myngs back in home waters. She was in the Sound during the winter of 1653/54. In 1656, she was under command of Captain Robert Coleman. In 1659, she was under Captain John Grimsditch for operations in the Sound.[8]

Service after the Restoration May 1660

In June 1660, still under Captain Grimsditch, she carried out operations in the Straits. On 1 May 1664, she was under Captain Edward Nixon until his death on 17 May 1665. On 18 May 1665, she was under command of Captain Robert Robinson at Tangier. She captured a Dutch merchantman in the English Channel. On 9 April 1666, she was under Captain Charles Talbot for a convoy to Lisbon. She returned in May 1666. She was a member of Blue Squadron, Van Division at the St James Day Fight on 25 July 1666. On 19 August 1666, she came under command of Captain John Lightfoot for convoy duty off Virginia.[9]

Loss

Elizabeth was burnt in action with four warships of the Dutch off Jamestown, Virginia in the Penobscot River on 5 June 1667. The Dutch boarded and burnt her, and also burnt or captured some eighteen merchant vessels also moored in the river awaiting being formed into a convoy. Captain Lightfoot was court-martialled anf found guilty of negligence; he was imprisoned for one year and dismissed from the service,[10] although he continued to serve in the early 1670s before disappearing in records.[11][12]

Notes

  1. ^ The culverin was a gun of 4,500 pounds with a 5.5-inch bore firing a 17.5-pound shot with a twelve-pound powder charge
  2. ^ The demi-culverin was a gun of 3,400 pounds with a four-inch bore firing a 9.5-pound shot with an eight-pound powder charge
  3. ^ The sacar or saker was a gun of 1,400 pounds with a 3.5-inch bore firing a 5.5-pound shot with a 5.5-pound powder charge

Citations

  1. ^ Winfield
  2. ^ Colledge
  3. ^ Winfield
  4. ^ Frank Fox, Great Ships: The Battlefleet of King Charles II, (Conway Maritime, 1980), p.185
  5. ^ Frank Fox, Great Ships: The Battlefleet of King Charles II, (Conway Maritime, 1980), p.185
  6. ^ Lavery, page 102
  7. ^ Winfield
  8. ^ Winfield
  9. ^ Winfield
  10. ^ David Hepper, British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail 1649-1860 (Seaforth Publishing, 2023).
  11. ^ The National Archives, SP 29/213, ff. 95r, 97r, 99r, 132r.
  12. ^ TNA, SP 29/224 f. 130r.

References

  • British Warships in the Age of Sail (1603 – 1714), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © Rif Winfield 2009, EPUB ISBN 978-1-78346-924-6, Chapter 4 Fourth Rates - 'Small Ships', Vessels acquired from 25 March 1603, 1647 Programme Group, Elizabeth
  • Colledge, Ships of the Royal Navy, by J.J. Colledge, revised and updated by Lt-Cdr Ben Warlow and Steve Bush, published by Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, Great Britain, © the estate of J.J. Colledge, Ben Warlow and Steve Bush 2020, EPUB ISBN 978-1-5267-9328-7, Section E (Elizabeth)
  • The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War 1600 – 1815, by Brian Lavery, published by US Naval Institute Press © Brian Lavery 1989, ISBN 978-0-87021-009-9, Part V Guns, Type of Guns
  • The National Archives, SP 29/213.
  • The National Archives, SP 29/224.