HMS ''Anne'' was a 70-gun

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). Rating When the rating system was f ...

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 tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

of the English, built under the 1677 Construction Programme by Phineas Pett II at

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...

during 1677/78. She fought in the War of English Succession 1688 to 1697. She took part in the

Battle of Beachy Head (1690) The Battle of Beachy Head, also known as the Battle of Bévéziers, was a fleet action fought on 10 July 1690 during the Nine Years' War. The battle was the most significant French naval victory over their English and Dutch opponents during the ...

where she was severely damaged and dismasted, and ran aground near

Rye, East Sussex Rye is a town and civil parish in the Rother District, Rother district of East Sussex, England, from the sea at the confluence of three rivers: the River Rother (Eastern), Rother, the River Tillingham, Tillingham and the River Brede, Brede. An ...

on 6 July 1690. She was burnt by the English to avoid capture by the French. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

. She was the sixth vessel to bear the name ''Anne'' since it was first used for a ballinger built at Southampton in 1416 and sold on 26 June 1426. However, the 1677 naming was probably in honour of the king's niece Anne (daughter of James II, and later Queen Anne).

Construction and specifications

She was ordered in April 1677 to be built at Chatham Dockyard under the guidance of Master Shipwright Phineas Pett. She was launched in November 1678. Her dimensions were a gundeck of with a keel of for tonnage calculation with a breadth of and a depth of hold of . Her builder's measurement tonnage was 1,051 tons. Her draught was .Rif Winfield, ''British Warships in the Age of Sail 1693-1714'';, Chapter 3, Vessels acquired from 2 May 1660, 1677 Construction Programme, First Batch (1677 Orders), AnneBrian Lavery, ''The Ship of the Line, volume - 1'', p. 162. Her initial gun armament was in accordance with the 1677 Establishment with 72/60 guns consisting of twenty-six demi-cannons (54 cwt, 9.5 ft) on the lower deck, twenty-four 12-pounder guns (32 cwt, 9 ft) on the upper deck, ten sakers (16 cwt, 7 ft) on the quarterdeck and four sakers (16 cwt, 7 ft) on the foc's'le with four 3-pounder guns (5 cwt, 5 ft) on the poop deck or roundhouse. By 1688 she would carry 70 guns as per the 1685 Establishment . Their initial manning establishment would be for a crew of 460/380/300 personnel.

Commissioned service

''Anne'' was commissioned in 1687 under the command of Captain

Cloudesley Shovell Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell ( – 22/23 October 1707) was an Royal Navy officer and politician. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay and Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. As a captain he fo ...

as the flagship of the

Duke of Grafton Duke of Grafton is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1675 by Charles II of England for Henry FitzRoy, his second illegitimate son by the Duchess of Cleveland. The most notable duke of Grafton was Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke o ...

was part of the fleet that escorted the Queen of Portugal Maria Sophia of Neuberg to

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. With the outbreak of the War of English Succession, she was commissioned in 1690 under the command of Captain John Tyrrell. She participated in the Battle of Beachy Head on 30 June 1690 as a member of Blue Squadron. Dismasted in the battle, ''Anne'' was run aground about 8 miles west of Rye, and burnt on 5 July 1690 to avoid capture. She was the only English ship lost during the battle.

Wreck

The wreck was reported visible at low tides in early 1903. The remains, on the low water mark of the beach near Pett Level,

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

, were designated under the British Protection of Wrecks Act on 20 June 1974. The wreck is owned by the Nautical Museums Trust (Shipwreck Museum Hastings).

Citations

References

*Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850''. Conway Maritime Press. . * Colledge (2020), 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, © 2020, (EPUB), Section N (Northumberland) * Winfield, Rif (2009), ''British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603 – 1714; Design, Construction, Careers and Fates'', published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, . EPUB * Clowes (1898), The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to the Present (Vol. II). London. England: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, © 1898 * Endsor, Richard (2017), ''The Warship Anne: An Illustrated History''. History of the new naval fleet of 30 ships begun in 1677 by King Charles II, and the Warship ''Anne'', a third rate 70 gun ship. * Historical European Naval situation, Ship Design, construction, Armamant, Battle History, Wreck, Remains Today. Publisher: CONWAY - Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, ISBN: PB: 978-1-8448-6439-3

External links

"''Anne''" National Heritage List for England
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anne (1678) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1670s ships Protected wrecks of England 1678 in England Ships built in England 1690 in England Maritime incidents in 1690 1690s disasters