HMS ''Chester'' 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 ...

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

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, launched 21 March 1691. She was ordered on 20 March 1690 to be built at

Woolwich Dockyard Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich - originally in north-west Kent, now in southeast London - whe ...

by Master Shipwright Joseph Lawrence - on the same day as her stable-mate ''Centurion'' (to be built at

Deptford Dockyard Deptford Dockyard was an important Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard and base at Deptford on the River Thames, operated by the Royal Navy from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It built and maintained warships for 350 years, and man ...

), and six days after the first ship of this batch (the ''Chatham'' to be built 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 ...

) - to a similar design to the prototype of this "123-ft" type - the ''Sedgemoor'' of 1687.Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603–1714, p.131. She was launched on 21 March 1691 (15 days after the ''Centurion'' and 30 days before the ''Chatham''). She was captured by the French 56-gun

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

''Jason'' at the

Battle at The Lizard The naval Battle of the Lizard () took place on 21 October 1707 during the War of the Spanish Succession near Lizard Point, Cornwall between two French squadrons under René Duguay-Trouin and Claude de Forbin and an English convoy protected by ...

on 21 October 1707.Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603–1714, p.131.

Notes

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 Captured ships {{UK-line-ship-stub

See also

Notes

References