HMS ''Salisbury'' was a 50-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 ...

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 at

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...

to the dimensions of the

1706 Establishment The 1706 Establishment was the first formal set of dimensions for ships of the Royal Navy. Two previous sets of dimensions had existed before, though these were only for specific shipbuilding programs running for only a given amount of time. In ...

, and launched on 3 July 1707. In autumn of 1707, she brought the body of admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell (who had been killed in a disastrous shipwreck in the Isles of Scilly) from St Mary's to

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 ...

prior to his burial in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. ''Salisbury'' was rebuilt for the first time by Stacey of

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 ...

. Unusually, as she was undergoing her rebuild just 10 years after her original launch, she was reconstructed to the same design specifications, and was relaunched on 10 October 1717. ''Salisbury'' was the only ship to have been built twice to the same design.Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 79. She was ordered to be taken to pieces for her second rebuild in orders dated 9 April 1725, and was rebuilt at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

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 ...

. ''Salisbury'' was relaunched on 30 October 1726. ''Salisbury'' was engaged in an action during August 1711, attempting to intercept the homeward-bound Spanish plate fleet, which was expected to arrive at the port of

Cartagena, Colombia Cartagena ( ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, along the Caribbean Sea. Cartagena's past role as a link in the route ...

from

Portobelo Portobelo (Modern Spanish: "Puerto Bello" ("beautiful port"), historically in Portuguese: Porto Belo) is a historic port and corregimiento in Portobelo District, Colón Province, Panama. Located on the northern part of the Isthmus of Panama, it ...

. The ''Salisbury'' formed part of a group of five two-deckers and a sloop under Commodore James Littleton. The British fleet arrived on 6 August chasing five large vessels, but these were able to enter the harbour via the Bocachica entrance. The next morning, another four vessels were chased, and Captain Francis Hosier in the ''Salisbury'', assisted by the ''Heureux'', a French

prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

previously captured by the ''Salisbury'', engaged the Spanish vice-flagship until Littleton could come up, and the Spaniard later submitted. A further Spanish vessel surrendered to Edward Vernon in the sixty-gun ''

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

''. The British continued to patrol the environs of Cartagena until forced to abandon the

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are ...

several weeks later, allowing the Spanish vessels to proceed to

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Notes

References

*Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850''. Conway Maritime Press. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Salisbury (1707) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1700s ships