HMS ''Jersey'' 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 ...
, one of eight such ships authorised by the
Navy Board
The Navy Board (formerly known as the Council of the Marine or Council of the Marine Causes) was the Regulatory agency, commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headqua ...
on 24 December 1695 to be newly built (six by commercial contract and two in the
Royal Dockyards); the others were the
''Hampshire'',
''Dartmouth'',
''Salisbury'',
''Winchester'',
''Worcester'',
''Carlisle'' and
''Tilbury''. The contract for the ''Jersey'' was signed with shipbuilder Joseph Nye (and his partner, timber merchant George Moore) on 31 July 1696, for the ship to be built in his yard at
East Cowes
East Cowes is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the north of the Isle of Wight, on the east bank of the River Medina, next to its west bank neighbour Cowes. It has a population of 8,428 according to the United Kingdom Census ...
on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...
for a contract price of £8-2-6d per ton, and she was launched there on 24 November 1698.
[Rif Winfield, ''British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714'', p.137.]
She was converted to serve as a hulk at
Plymouth Dockyard
His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roya ...
in August 1731, and was deliberately sunk there on 27 May 1763.
[Rif Winfield, ''British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714'', p.137.]
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.'' .
* Winfield, Rif (2007) ''British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing.'' .
Ships of the line of the Royal Navy
1690s ships
{{UK-line-ship-stub