HMS ''Greenwich'' was a 54-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 ...

, built by

Christopher Pett Christopher Pett (1620–1668) was an English shipbuilder for the Royal Navy and part of the Pett dynasty of shipbuilders. He is mentioned in the Diary of Samuel Pepys. History He was born on 4 May 1620, the eleventh child of many children ...

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 ...

and launched in 1666. ''Greenwich'' was rebuilt at

Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is loc ...

in 1699 as a fourth-rate of 46-54 guns. She fought at the action of August 1702 as part of a squadron under Admiral

John Benbow Vice-Admiral John Benbow (10 March 16534 November 1702) was an English Royal Navy officer. He joined the Navy in 1678, seeing action against Barbary pirates before leaving to join the Merchant Navy in which Benbow served until the 1688 Glorio ...

, but hung back from the engagement. As a result, her Captain Cooper Wade was tried and convicted of cowardice and shot. On 16 April 1724 she was ordered to be taken to pieces at Chatham, and rebuilt as a 50-gun fourth-rate to the dimensions of 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 ...

, relaunching on 15 February 1730. On 20 October 1744, whilst preparing to come alongside the hulk , they were struck by hurricane-force winds which caused severe damage to both vessels, which subsequently sank. From ''Greenwich'', Captain Allen and 85 others were drowned. His Majesty's ships , and were also lost in this incident.Ships of the Old Navy, ''Greenwich'' 1730.

Notes

References

* Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . * Michael Phillips
''Greenwich'' (54) (1730)
Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 2 December 2007. Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1660s ships {{UK-line-ship-stub