HMS ''Director'' 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 9 March 1784 at

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is th ...

. She was laid down speculatively in November 1779, and ordered by the Navy the following year. Samuel Owen - HMS Director, raking the Dutch flagship Vrijheid, during the Battle of Camperdown, 11th October 1797

Samuel Owen - HMS Director, raking the Dutch flagship Vrijheid, during the Battle of Camperdown, 11th October 1797

In 1797 ''Director'' was under the command of Captain

William Bligh Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The mutiny on the HMS ''Bounty'' occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command; after being set adrift i ...

. In early 1797 he surveyed the

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary betw ...

, preparing a map of the stretch from

Spurn Spurn is a narrow sand tidal island located off the tip of the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England that reaches into the North Sea and forms the north bank of the mouth of the Humber Estuary. It was a spit with a semi-permanent c ...

to the west of

Sunk Island Sunk Island is a Crown Estate village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies south of Ottringham and to the north of the Humber Estuary. The Greenwich Meridian passes through the east of the parish. According to ...

. In May, the crew mutinied during the Nore mutiny.The Naval Mutinies of 1797
/ref> The mutiny was not triggered by any specific actions by Bligh. On 12 October she took part in the

Battle of Camperdown The Battle of Camperdown (known in Dutch as the ''Zeeslag bij Kamperduin'') was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797, between the British North Sea Fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Batavian Navy (Dutch) fleet under Vice-Admira ...

, where she captured the Dutch commander, Vice-Admiral

Jan de Winter Jan Willem de Winter (French: Jean Guillaume de Winter, 23 March 1761 – 2 June 1812) was a Dutch admiral during the Napoleonic Wars. Biography Early life De Winter was born in Kampen and entered naval service at a young age. He distingu ...

, and his flagship, '' Vrijheid''.

Fate

''Director'' was decommissioned in July 1800 and broken up at Chatham in January 1801.

Notes

References

*Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . *Winfield, Rif (2005) ''British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817 - Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.'' Conway Maritime Press. .

External links

* Ships of the line of the Royal Navy St Albans-class ships of the line 1784 ships Ships built in Gravesend {{UK-line-ship-stub