HMS ''Superb'' 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 ...

, designed by Sir Thomas Slade and built by

Adam Hayes Adam Hayes (1710–1785) was an 18th-century shipbuilder to the Royal Navy. A great number of his models survive. He was responsible for the selection of the ship the ''Earl of Pembroke'' and was the wright who converted it into in 1768 fo ...

Deptford Dockyard Deptford Dockyard was an important Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard and base at Deptford on the River Thames, operated by the Royal Navy from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It built and maintained warships for 350 years, and man ...

, launched on 27 October 1760 as a sister ship to .

Service history

In June 1762 during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

''Superb'' and two other ships saved a convoy from a French squadron commanded by Commodore de Ternay. In 1764 she carried troops to North America as part of the ongoing colonial conflict. In January 1768 she hit a rock in Cork harbour off the coast of Ireland and had to return to

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 ...

for repair. She sailed to the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...

and in December 1780 she destroyed shipping at

Mangalore Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...

. On 17 February 1782 she was part of the

Battle of Sadras The Battle of Sadras was the first of five largely indecisive naval battles fought between a British fleet (under Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes) and a French fleet (under Admiral Pierre Suffren) off the east coast of India during the Anglo-F ...

and on 12 April was in the

Battle of Providien The Battle of Providien was the second in a series of naval battles fought between a British fleet, under Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, and a French fleet, under the Bailli de Suffren, off the coast of India during the Anglo-French War. The ...

. On 6 July 1782 she was in the Second Battle of Negapatam and on the 3 September the

Battle of Trincomalee Plan of the battle (British units - black, French - white) The Battle of Trincomalee was fought between a British fleet under Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes and a French fleet under the Bailli de Suffren off the coast of Trincomalee, then Cey ...

. The ''Superb'' was Admiral Edward Hughes's flagship in India in 1782 during a notable series of engagements with the French under Suffren. On 20 June 1783 the ''Superb'' took part in the Battle of Cuddalore before returning to Bombay for

copper sheathing Copper sheathing is a method for protecting the hull of a wooden vessel from attack by shipworm, barnacles and other marine growth through the use of copper plates affixed to the surface of the hull, below the waterline. It was pioneered and d ...

along her hull. On 7 November she developed a severe leak through the sheathing into the bilge, and sank in

Tellicherry Thalassery () (also called Tellicherry) is a city and municipality on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahe and Kozhikode. Thalassery municipality has a population of just under ...

Roads off the Bombay coast, with the loss of her commander, Captain Dunbar Maclellan and her crew of 550 men."The Navy Day by Day", 5 November

Notes

References

* * Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Bellona-class ships of the line 1760 ships Maritime incidents in 1783 {{UK-line-ship-stub