''Nonsuch'' was a 32-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 ...

of the English Navy, built by

Peter Pett Peter Pett may refer to: * Peter Pett (shipwright, died 1672) (1610–1672), English master-shipwright at Chatham Dockyard * Peter Pett (shipwright, died 1589) (?–1589), English master-shipwright at Deptford Dockyard * Sir Peter Pett (lawyer) ...

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 launched in 1646 as part of the 1646 Programme Group. She was in the Parliamentary force during the English Civil War, then the Commonwealth Navy and was incorporated into the Royal Navy after the Restoration in 1660. During her time in the Commonwealth Navy she partook in the Battles of Kentish Knock, Portland, the Gabbard and Scheveningen. She was wrecked at Gibraltar on 3 December 1664. ''Nonsuch'' was the second English warship to receive that name, since it was used for a 44-gun galleon named ''Philip and Mary'' built in 1556, rebuilt in 1584 and renamed ''Nonpareil'', then rebuilt again in 1603 and renamed ''Nonsuch'', and finally ordered to be sold in November 1645.

Construction and specifications

She was ordered in December 1645 to be built at

under the guidance of Master Shipwright Peter Pett. She was launched in 1646, and was somewhat larger than the ''Assurance'' and ''Adventure'' built in the same year. Her known dimensions were keel length as reported for tonnage, breadth , and depth in hold . The tonnage was 418 tons. There were different tonnages reported at various dates, an indication that the ''Nonsuch'' was originally intended to be 389 tons, signifying a breadth of , but she was significantly girdled later on, to an eventual 518 tons, signifying a final breadth of . Her actual armament may have been slightly greater than in the ''Assurance'' and ''Adventure''. As built she carried 34 guns, probably ten

culverin A culverin was initially an ancestor of the hand-held arquebus, but the term was later used to describe a type of medieval and Renaissance cannon. The word is derived from the antiquated "culuering" and the French (from " grass snake", follo ...

sA culverin was a gun of 4,500 pounds with a 5.5-inch bore firing a 17.5-pound shot with a 12-pound powder charge. and ten demi-culverinsBrian Lavery, ''The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War 1800 – 1815'', page 101A demi-culverin was a gun of 3,400 pounds with a four-inch bore firing a 9.5-pound shot with an eight-pound powder charge. on the main deck, and four more demi-culverins and ten sakers on the quarterdeck,A sacar or saker was a gun of 1,400 pounds with a 3.5-inch bore firing a 5.5-pound shot with a 5.5-pound powder charge. but another four guns (probably sakers) were added by 1652, by which time a continuous upper deck had been formed by joining the forecastle and quarterdeck. Another 2 guns were added in 1653, to give a total of 40.

Commissioned service

Service in the English Civil War

She was commissioned in 1646 for service with the Parliamentary forces under Captain William Thomas for service in the Winter Guard through 1647. She was in the Irish Sea in the spring 1647. Later in 1647 she was under the command of Captain Richard Willoughby serving in the English Channel. She then was assigned to Warwick's Fleet at the Downs in September 1648. She participated in the blockade of Kinsale, Ireland in 1649.

Service in the Commonwealth Navy

In 1650 she was under Captain John Mildmay for service on the west coast, then she went to the Mediterranean with Penn's squadron in 1651. At the Battle of Kentish Knock she was a member of Robert Blake's Fleet of sixty-eight ships on 28 September 1652. In late 1652 she came under command of Captain Thomas Penrose. At the Battle off Portland she was a member of Robert Blake's Fleet of eighty-four ships from 18 to 20 February 1653. This British victory secured control over the English Channel. The Dutch lost eight warships and forty merchant vessels. In the

Battle of the Gabbard The Battle of the Gabbard, was a naval battle fought from 2 to 3 June 1653 during the First Anglo-Dutch War. It took place near the Gabbard shoal off the coast of Suffolk, England, between fleets of the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Repu ...

she was a member of Blue Squadron, Centre Division, still under the command of Penrose, on 2/3 June 1653. The British were victorious on the first day. When Admiral Tromp attempted to attack again on the 3rd he withdrew when a squadron of eighteen ships arrived under the command of Robert Blake. This fight was followed by the

Battle of Scheveningen The Battle of Scheveningen was the final naval battle of the First Anglo-Dutch War. It took place on July 31st 1653 between the fleets of the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic. The Dutch fleet suffered heavy losses. Background A ...

where she was a member of Blue Squadron, Centre Division on 31 July 1653. In 1656/57 she was under Captain John Wooters with Robert Blake's Fleet. In 1660 she was under Captain Ambrose Smith until he died then Captain John Parker on 27 March 1661. He was still in command for the Restoration of Charles II.

Service after the Restoration 1661

With Captain Parker in Command she sail with the Earl of Sandwich's Squadron to Tangiers. She was with Sir John Lambert's squadron in the Mediterranean during the winter of 1661/62. On 19 March 1664 she was under the command of Captain Nicholas Parker with Sir Thomas Allin's squadron in the Mediterranean. Captain Philip Bacon took command on 4 November 1664.

Loss

The ''Nonsuch'' was wrecked (with all hands lost) in a storm at Gibraltar on 3 December 1664, along with the ''Phoenix''.

Notes

Citations

References

* Rif Winfield (2009), ''British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603 – 1714'', published by Seaforth Publishing, England, , EPUB * Jim Colledge, ''Ships of the Royal Navy'', revised and updated by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow and Steve Bush, published by Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, Great Britain, © 2020, EPUB , (EPUB), Section N (Nonsuch), Section P (Philip and Mary) * Brian Lavery (1987), ''The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War 1800 – 1815'', published by Conway Maritime Press, {{DEFAULTSORT:Nonsuch (1646) Ships built in Woolwich 17th-century ships 1640s ships Maritime incidents in 1664 Shipwrecks Ships of the English navy Ships of the line of the Royal Navy