HMS ''Rupert'' was a 64-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

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, launched at

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Dockyard on 26 January 1666 and broken up in 1769.

Construction

The ''Rupert'' was ordered on 26 October 1664 as part of the ship construction programme of that year. She was launched on 26 January 1666 at

Dockyard. In his diary entry of 19 May 1666,

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

of 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 ...

describes a conversation concerning the construction of the ''Rupert'' that he had with her designer, Anthony Deane:

Career

By 1677 the ''Rupert'' carried a complement of 400 men and 66 guns (comprising twenty-six 24-pounders, twenty-four 12-pounders, fourteen sakers -poundersand two 3-pounders), but by 1685 she was carrying only 64 guns again (comprising twenty-four 24-pounders, two culverins, twenty-six 12-pounders and twelve demi-culverins). On 1 April 1678, under Commodore Arthur Herbert, and having in company the ''

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

'', under Captain

Roger Strickland Sir Roger Strickland (1640–1717) was an English admiral and Member of Parliament. Life Strickland was the second son of Walter Strickland of Nateby Hall, Lancashire, and lived at Thornton Bridge near Aldborough in Yorkshire, a property ...

, she brought to action the ''Tiger'', a large Algerine war ship of forty guns and 400 men. The ''Rupert'' being much in advance of the ''Mary'', engaged the ''Tiger'' alone; but the Algerine was stoutly defended, and until the ''Mary'' had arrived up, refused to surrender. The ''Tiger'' lost one-half of her crew before she struck. Herbert lost an eye, and nearly all his officers and nineteen men were killed, and between thirty and forty wounded. In 1697 she was taken into

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 ...

to be rebuilt by Benjamin Rosewell, and she was relaunched in November 1703 as a 66-gun third rate once again. In 1716 she was reduced to a

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 ...

, and on 16 August 1736 she was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at

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Dockyard, although by this date the practice of rebuilding had become a

legal fiction A legal fiction is a construct used in the law where a thing is taken to be true, which is not in fact true, in order to achieve an outcome. Legal fictions can be employed by the courts or found in legislation. Legal fictions are different from ...

, and 'rebuilt' ships were in practice new vessels incorporating a small portion of their predecessor's timber into the construction. She was relaunched on 27 October 1740 as 60-gun

ship of the line built to the 1733 proposals of 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 ...

. ''Rupert'' was broken up in 1769.

Notes

References

*Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1660s ships Ships built in Harwich {{UK-line-ship-stub