HMS Aldborough (1743)

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

Plan for the Aldborough
History
Great Britain
NameHMS Aldborough
Ordered17 November 1741
BuilderJohn Orkill, Liverpool
Laid down6 January 1742
Launched16 March 1743
CompletedBy June 1743
CommissionedFebruary 1743
FateSold out of service, Deptford dockyard, 28 November 1749
General characteristics
Class and type20-gun sixth-rate
Tons burthen498 36/94 bm[a]
Length
  • 112 ft 0 in (34.1 m) (gundeck)
  • 91 ft 6 in (27.9 m) (keel)
Beam32 ft (9.8 m)
Depth of hold11 ft (3.4 m)
PropulsionSail
Sail planship-rigged
Complement140
Armament20 × 9-pdrs

HMS Aldborough was a 20-gun sixth-rate ship of the Royal Navy, launched in 1743 and in service in Atlantic and Caribbean waters until 1749.

Commissioned in February 1743 under Captain John Pitman, Aldborough was launched in March as part of the British home fleet during the War of Jenkins' Ear. For two years she was assigned patrol and convoy duties from the English Channel to northern Scotland. Former Harvard College professor Isaac Greenwood served as ship's chaplain during this coastal service, from 1743 until his discharge from the Navy on 22 May 1744.[2] From 1744 Aldborough was transferred to the British fleet stationed off South Carolina, protecting British colonies against the risk of Spanish attack. Her captain at this station was Carolinas fleet commander Ashby Utting, late of HMS Looe.[3] However Utting died in January 1746 and Aldborough's captaincy devolved to a more junior officer, Commander Thomas Innes.[4]

In September 1747 the ship was reassigned to the Caribbean, where she remained until 1749. Service in the tropics having reduced her seaworthiness, she was paid off in July 1749 and returned to Deptford Dockyard for repairs. A naval survey in September of that year found that her condition was not salvageable. On 28 November she was sold out of service for £302.[b][4]

Notes

Footnotes

  1. ^ Other sources suggest 506 bm[1]
  2. ^ In 2014 terms, this equates to a sale value of approximately £41,800.[5]

Citations

  1. ^ Colledge, Warlow 2010, p. 10
  2. ^ Leonard, David C. (April 1981). "Harvard's First Science Professor: A Sketch of Isaac Greenwood's Life and Work". Harvard Library Bulletin. 29 (2). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University: 162. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  3. ^ May, W.E. (January 1969). "Capt. Charles Hardy on the Carolina Station, 1742-1744". The South Carolina Historical Magazine. 70 (1). South Carolina Historical Society: 1–19. JSTOR 27566917.
  4. ^ a b Winfield 2007, p.254
  5. ^ "Purchasing Power of British Pounds from 1264 to Present". MeasuringWorth. 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2014.

Bibliography

  • Colledge, J.J.; Warlow, Ben (2010). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. Castlemate. ISBN 9781935149071.
  • Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 9781844157006.