HMS ''Marlborough'' was a

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the thi ...

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

, launched on 26 August 1767 at

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

and built by the master shipwright Adam Hayes, at a cost of £33,319.British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792 R Winfield She was one of the built to update the Navy and replace ships lost following the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...

. She was first commissioned in 1771 under Captain Richard Bickerton as a

guard ship A guard ship is a warship assigned as a stationary guard in a port or harbour, as opposed to a coastal patrol boat, which serves its protective role at sea. Royal Navy In the Royal Navy of the eighteenth century, peacetime guard ships were usua ...

for the

Medway Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to ...

and saw active service in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and on the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...

. At the battle of the First of June ''Marlborough'', under Captain George Cranfield Berkeley, suffered heavy damage after becoming entangled with ''Impétueux,'' and then with ''Mucius.'' The three entangled ships continued exchanging fire for some time, all suffering heavy casualties with ''Marlborough'' losing all three of her masts. On 12 April 1782, under the command of Captain Taylor Penny, Marlborough headed the attack on the French fleet during the

Battle of the Saintes The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...

. During this action three men were killed and 16 wounded. It then sailed to North America attached to Admiral Hugh Pigot's fleet. In May 1797 a mutiny ejected the commander, Captain Henry Nicholls. He was replaced by Captain John Eaton then Joseph Ellison in August 1797. In May 1798 a second mutiny occurred in

Berehaven Castletownbere () is a town in County Cork in Ireland. It is located on the Beara Peninsula by Berehaven Harbour. It is also known as Castletown Berehaven. A regionally important fishing port, the town also serves as a commercial and retail hub ...

. On the evening of 3 November 1800 ''Marlborough'' was at sea in a storm off Brittany's

Belle Île Belle-Île, Belle-Île-en-Mer, or Belle Isle ( br, Ar Gerveur, ; br, label=Old Breton, Guedel) is a French island off the coast of Brittany in the ''département'' of Morbihan, and the largest of Brittany's islands. It is from the Quiberon peni ...

when strong winds drove her onto a partially submerged ledge of rocks. A substantial breach was opened in her hull and she began to batter against the rocks with each incoming wave. Her commander, Captain Thomas Sotheby, ordered the ship's guns and stores to be thrown overboard to lighten her, but she remained stuck fast.Grocott 1997, pp. 101-02 The storm abated by the following morning, but the ship had settled on the rocks and was awash to her

orlop deck The orlop is the lowest deck in a ship (except for very old ships). It is the deck or part of a deck where the cables are stowed, usually below the water line The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the wa ...

as waves flowed in through the hull. A distress signal was raised and answered by which drew close to ''Marlborough'' and succeeded in taking off all 600 of her crew. No attempt was made to salvage the ship itself.

Notes

References

* * Lyon, David (1993) ''The Sailing Navy List'' Conway Maritime Press. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Marlborough (1767) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Ramillies-class ships of the line 1767 ships Ships built in England Maritime incidents in 1800 Shipwrecks in the Bay of Biscay