HMS ''Royal Oak'' was a 74-gun

third rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Rating When the rating system was f ...

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

Israel Pownoll Israel Pownoll ( – April 1779) was an English shipwright who worked for the Royal Navy. History In 1741, he was Foreman and Master Mastmaker of Deptford Dockyard. In March 1743 he was appointed Master Caulker. In 1752 he moved to Portsmo ...

and launched on 13 November 1769 at

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. She was not fully commissioned until the

Falklands Crisis of 1770 The Falklands Crisis of 1770 was a diplomatic standoff between Great Britain and Spain over possession of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. These events were nearly the cause of a war between Britain and Spain—backed by France� ...

. Her first commander was Captain

Molyneux Shuldham Admiral Molyneux Shuldham, 1st Baron Shuldham ( – 30 September 1798) was an officer of the British Royal Navy. He served for a time as colonial governor of Newfoundland. Family and early life Molyneux Shuldham was born in Ireland c. 1717, ...

. Other notable commanders include Sir Peter Parker from November 1775 until October 1776. Johnathon Faulknor from October 176 until January 1778. Henry Francis Evans April/May 1778. Sir George Home July/August 1779. Sir Digby Dent August to December 1779. She spent all of her first years in

and in 1773 formed part of the Spithead Review where the strength of the Navy was displayed to King George III. Not until December 1778 did she begin to partake in meaningful duties, when she then sailed over the Atlantic to the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. In 1779 she was posted to the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

. On 6 July 1779 she took part in the

Battle of Grenada The Battle of Grenada took place on 6 July 1779 during the American Revolutionary War in the West Indies between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy, just off the coast of Grenada. A British fleet led by Admiral John Byron (the grandfath ...

. From January to April 1780 she was refitted with a copper bottom in Portsmouth Docks. She sailed for North America in May 1780 and arrived in July. On 16 March 1781 she took part in the

Battle of Cape Henry The Battle of Cape Henry was a naval battle in the American War of Independence which took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 16 March 1781 between a British squadron under Vice-admiral Mariot Arbuthnot and a French squadron under Admira ...

fighting the French fleet off the American coast. In August 1781 she captured the American sloop Aurora (16 gun). She fought the French again at the

Battle of the Chesapeake The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American Revolutionary War that took place near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 1 ...

on 5 September 1781. In December she was re-posted to the

and on 12 April 1782 took part in the huge

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 ...

as the final ship of the Red Squadron, in which action she delivered the fatal blow to the French ship "Cesar". After this action she returned to North America before being returned to Portsmouth in 1783 for repair. Although some works were carried out a full refit proved uneconomic and she sat for many years unused in Portsmouth Docks. ''Royal Oak'' was converted for use as a

prison ship A prison ship, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoner of war, prisoners of war or civilian internees. Some prison ships were hulk (ship type), hulked. W ...

for French prisoners-of-war in 1796, and was broken up in 1815.

Citations and 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 Royal Oak-class ships of the line 1769 ships {{UK-line-ship-stub