HMS ''Chatham'' was a 50-gun

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a complement of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers, a six-tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided ...

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of the

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, the first of five such ships to be ordered in 1690 (the others were the ''Centurion'' and ''Chester'' on 20 March - six days after the ''Chatham'' - and the ''Norwich'' and ''Weymouth'' on 15 August). The ''Chatham'' was built by Master Shipwright Robert Lee at the eponymous dockyard, and launched on 20 October 1691. She was designed to the same lines as Lee's previous 50-gun ship, the ''Sedgemoor'' of 1687 - her specification was for a length of 123 ft, breadth of 34ft 3in and depth in hold of 13ft 9in, although she measured very slightly more on completion. Her original armament comprised 22

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s (16-pounders) on the lower deck, 18 x 8-pounders on the upper deck, and 10

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s (4-pounders). She was later re-armed in accordance with the 1703 Establishment of guns, with 22 x 12-pounders on the lower deck, 22 x 6pounders on the upper deck, 8 more 6-pounders on the quarterdeck and 2 more on the forecastle. After re-building, she was armed in accordance with the 1716 Establishment of guns, with 22 x 18-pounders, 22 x 9-pounders and 6 x 6-pounders. Under the command of Captain Robert Bokenham, on 14 January 1705 she took the 30-gun St Malo privateer ''Connetable'', and on 8 August 1705 she (along with the ''Medway'') captured the French 60-gun ''Auguste'', built in Brest in 1704, which the British took into service as . She underwent a rebuild according to the

1719 Establishment The 1719 Establishment was a set of mandatory requirements governing the construction of all Royal Navy warships capable of carrying more than 20 naval long guns. It was designed to bring economies of scale through uniform vessel design, and e ...

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from 1718 to 1721.

Fate

''Chatham'' served until September 1749, when she was sunk as a breakwater at Sheerness. She was raised and taken to pieces there in May 1762.

Citations

References

*Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850''. Conway Maritime Press. . *Winfield, Rif (1997), ''The 50-Gun Ship: A Complete History''. Chatham Publishing (1st edition); Mercury Books (2nd edition 2005). . *Winfield, Rif (2009), ''British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603–1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates''. Seaforth Publishing. . Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1690s ships Ships sunk as breakwaters {{UK-line-ship-stub