HMS ''Duke'' was a 90-gun

second-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer guns ...

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 on 13 June 1682 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 ...

Charles Edward Dixon HMS Prince George 1701 Battle of Malaga HMS Duke 1682

She underwent a rebuild in 1701 as another 90-gun second rate, and was renamed HMS ''Prince George'' (after the future George II). After her rebuild, she served in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

, fighting in the Battle of Málaga and the capture of

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. On 4 November 1719 ''Prince George'' was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

Richard Stacey Richard Stacey (c. 1663–1743) was an English shipbuilder and ship designer employed by the Royal Navy at several dockyards but predominantly Deptford. Life He was probably apprenticed as a shipwright around 1677. He was appointed a mas ...

, and she was relaunched on 4 September 1723 as a 90-gun second-rate built to 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 ...

Bataille du cap Ortegal mai 1747 image et texte

In June 1757 ''Prince George'' was taken into Portsmouth Dockyard for repairs. The work took four months to complete at a total cost of £9,513, after which the ship was recommissioned as the flagship of Rear Admiral Broderick. On 13 April 1758, ''Prince George'' was at sea in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

when a fire broke out below decks. The flames quickly spread throughout the ship and she foundered with the loss of 485 out of 745 crew.Winfield 2007, pp. 13-14

Notes

References

*Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . *

External links

* Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1680s ships {{UK-line-ship-stub