HMS ''Augusta'' was a 64-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). Years of experience proved that the thir ...

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 Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

, launched on 24 October 1763 at

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of ...

. After running aground in the Delaware River ''Augusta'' ran aground and was accidentally destroyed by fire on 22 October 1777 during the

Battle of Red Bank The Battle of Red Bank was a battle fought on October 22, 1777 during the American Revolutionary War in which a British and Hessian force was sent to take Fort Mercer on the left bank (or New Jersey side) of the Delaware River just south of Ph ...

.Ships of the Old Navy, ''Augusta''.

Loss

On the evening of 22 October 1777, the ''Augusta'' and several other warships, under the command of Admiral Francis Reynolds, had sailed up the Delaware River to a point a short distance below some ''

chevaux de frise The ''cheval de frise'' (plural: ''chevaux de frise'' , " Frisian horses") is a defensive obstacle, which existed in a number of forms and were employed in various applications. These included underwater constructions used to prevent the pass ...

'' obstructions in order to fire at

Fort Mercer Fort Mercer was a earthen fort on the Delaware River on its New Jersey shore constructed by the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Built by Polish engineer Thaddeus Kosciuszko under the command of George Washington, Fort ...

the following day. As the tide fell, both ''Augusta'' and (16) went aground on one of the several sandbars around that location. Despite attempts during the night by (44) to free ''Augusta'' from its predicament, the warship remained hard aground. About 9:00AM on 23 October, a general action started with (32) and (28) joining other vessels in the bombardment. The British ships were engaged by

Fort Mifflin Fort Mifflin, originally called Fort Island Battery and also known as Mud Island Fort, was commissioned in 1771 and sits on Mud Island (or Deep Water Island) on the Delaware River below Philadelphia, Pennsylvania near Philadelphia International ...

and the

Pennsylvania Navy The Pennsylvania Navy (more formally known as the Pennsylvania State Navy or in modern terms the Pennsylvania Naval Militia) served as the naval force of Pennsylvania during the American Revolution and afterward, until the formation of the United ...

, under the command of Commodore John Hazelwood, launched four

fire ship A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...

s. At about 2:00 PM, the ''Augusta'' caught fire near its stern, according to an American eyewitness. The fire spread rapidly and soon the entire vessel was wrapped in flames. After about an hour the fire reached the magazine and the ship exploded. The blast smashed windows in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and was heard away in Trappe, Pennsylvania. The loss of the ''Augusta'' was attributed to various causes. The British claimed that the blaze was started when wadding from the guns set the rigging on fire or that the crew intentionally set the blaze. Some Americans asserted that ''Augusta'' was ignited by a fire ship while others stated that its loss was caused by red-hot shot from Fort Mifflin.

John Montresor Captain John Montresor (22 April 1736 – June 1799) was a British military engineer and cartographer in North America. Early life Born in Gibraltar 22 April 1736 to British military engineer James Gabriel Montresor and his first wife, M ...

, the British officer in charge of the

Siege of Fort Mifflin The siege of Fort Mifflin or siege of Mud Island Fort from September 26 to November 16, 1777 saw British land batteries commanded by Captain John Montresor and a British naval squadron under Vice Admiral Lord Richard Howe attempt to capture an ...

, wrote that one lieutenant, the ship's chaplain and 60 of ''Augusta's'' ratings were killed while struggling in the water. Soon after, the crew of ''Merlin'' abandoned ship and set their ship on fire. It blew up later in the day.

Legacy

The ''Augusta'' was the largest British vessel lost in combat by the Royal Navy in either the Revolutionary War or in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...

. In the 1870s, rumours of gold in the wreck, which was still partially visible in the river, led to recovery efforts that removed tableware, a watch, coins, and three cannon. An unsuccessful attempt to move the ship for display in the

1876 Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

failed, leaving the ship grounded again at

Gloucester City, New Jersey Gloucester City is a city in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the city's population was 11,456,Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promot ...

took much of the wood to its Washington, D.C. headquarters and used it to recreate an English period dining room. Other pieces washed up on Gloucester City beaches and were collected by citizens. One Paulsboro resident collected 14 staircase pedestals, donating 12 to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

and one to the Gill Memorial Library in Paulsboro.

Notes

References

*Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . * *Phillips, Michael
''Augusta'' (64) (1763)
Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 1 September 2008.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Augusta (1763) 1763 ships Maritime incidents in 1777 Ships built in Rotherhithe Ships of the line of the Royal Navy St Albans-class ships of the line