HMS ''Prince George'' 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 31 August 1772 at
Chatham. During her career, she was upgraded to a 98-gun ship, through the addition of eight 12-
pounder () guns to her quarterdeck.
Service
In 1780, ''Prince George'' was part of
Rodney's fleet at the
Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
On 12 April 1782 she was seventh in line in the attack on the French fleet at the
Battle of the Saintes
The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...
under the command of Captain Williams.
In December 1796,
Sir William Parker took command of her on assignment to the Channel Fleet under Lord Bridport.
On 19 January 1797 the ship was detached with several ships to join the forces of Sir
John Jervis in the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
.
The ship then took part under in the
Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797.
She fought at the
Battle of Groix
The Battle of Groix (, ) took place on 23 June 1795 off the island of Groix in the Bay of Biscay during the War of the First Coalition. It was fought between elements of the British Channel Fleet and the French Ponant Fleet, Atlantic Fleet, whi ...
in 1795.
In 1807, ''Prince George'', under Captain
Woodley Losack, was in the West indies in the squadron under the command of Rear-Admiral
Alexander Cochrane
Admiral Sir Alexander Inglis Cochrane, GCB (born Alexander Forrester Cochrane; 23 April 1758 – 26 January 1832) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and achieved the rank of admi ...
. The squadron captured the ''Telemaco'', ''Carvalho'' and ''Master'' on 17 April 1807.
In December ''Prince George'' participated in Cochrane's expedition that
captured the Danish islands of
St Thomas on 22 December and
Santa Cruz on 25 December. The Danes did not resist and the invasion was bloodless.
Fate
''Prince George'' was converted to serve as a
sheer hulk
A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. 'Hulk' may be used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, an abandoned wreck or shell, or a ship whose propulsion system is no longer maintained or has been r ...
in 1832. In 1835 she was used in a series of gunnery trials as a target ship, the results of which contributed to the rapid introduction of the shell firing gun.
[Brown, Before the Ironclad, p133f] The ''Prince George'' was broken up in 1839.
Gallery
File:L'Arrive du Prince Quillaume Henry a Nouvelle York (NYPL Hades-1785675-1650660).jpg, Prince William Henry arrives on the ''Prince George'' in New York on 16 Oct 1781.
File:His Royal Highness Prince William Henry, Serving as Midshipman on board His Majesty's Ship Prince George B0076 PAH5531.jpg, His Royal Highness Prince William Henry, serving as Midshipman on board His Majesty's Ship ''Prince George'', .
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Prince George (1772)
Ships of the line of the Royal Navy
Barfleur-class ships of the line
1772 ships