HMS ''Boyne'' was a 98-gun

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second-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer guns ...

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 ...

launched on 27 July 1790 at

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. She was the flagship of Vice Admiral John Jervis in 1794. She caught fire and blew up in 1795.

Invasion of Guadeloupe

In 1793, ''Boyne'' set sail on 24 November for the

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, carrying Lieutenant-general Sir Charles Grey and Vice-admiral Sir John Jervis for an invasion of Guadeloupe. On the way, Yellow fever ravaged the crew. Still, the British managed to get the French to surrender at Fort St. Charles in

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

on 21 April of the following year. The capture of Fort St. Charles, the batteries, and the town of

Basse-Terre Basse-Terre (, ; ; ) is a communes of the Guadeloupe department, commune in the France, French overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is also the ''prefectures in France, pref ...

cost the British army two men killed, four wounded, and five missing; the navy had no casualties.

Fate

''Boyne'' caught fire and blew up on 1 May 1795 at

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. She was lying at anchor while the

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of the vessel were practising firing exercises. It is supposed that the funnel of the wardroom stove, which passed through the decks, set fire to papers in the Admiral's cabin. The fire was only discovered when flames burst through the poop, by which time it was too late to do anything. The fire spread rapidly and she was aflame from one end to the other within half an hour. As soon as the fleet noticed the fire, other vessels sent boats to render assistance. As a result, the death toll on ''Boyne'' was only eleven men. At the same time, the signal was made for the vessels most at danger from the fire to get under way. Although the tide and wind were not favourable, all the vessels in any danger were able to escape to St Helens. Because the guns were always left loaded, the cannons began to '

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', firing shots at potential rescuers making their way to the ship, resulting in the deaths of two seamen and the injury of another aboard , anchored nearby. Later in the day, the fire burnt the cables and ''Boyne'' drifted eastward till she grounded on the east end of the Spit, opposite

Southsea Castle Southsea Castle, historically also known as Chaderton Castle, South Castle and Portsea Castle, is an artillery fort originally constructed by Henry VIII on Portsea Island, Hampshire, in 1544. It formed part of the King's Device programme to pr ...

. There she blew up soon after.

Post-script

The wreck presented something of a hazard to a navigation and as a result it was blown up on 30 August 1838 in a clearance attempt, and yet again a final attempt on 24 June 1840. Today the Boyne buoy marks the site of the explosion. A few metal artefacts from the ship remain atop a mound of shingle.

Citations

References

* *Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyne (1790) Boyne-class ships of the line (1790) Ship fires Maritime incidents in 1795 1790 ships Ships sunk by non-combat internal explosions