Sir Henry Peake (1753–1825) was a shipbuilder and designer to 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 ...

who rose to be

Surveyor of the Navy The Surveyor of the Navy, originally known as Surveyor and Rigger of the Navy, held overall responsibility for the design of British warships from 1745. He was a principal commissioner and member of the Navy Board from the inauguration of tha ...

Life

He was born in 1753 in (or close 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 ...

. He joined the

in May 1762 aged only 9, as an apprentice ship's carpenter. "Henry Peake" who is noted as Master Boat Builder at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1762 clearly cannot be the same person and this is probably his father. The Royal Navy list his works from 1779 when he became Master Shipwright at

Sheerness Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960. Location In the Age of Sail, the Royal Navy would often establish shore ...

. In June 1806 he replaced Sir John Henslow as

, working alongside Sir William Rule. Hos position as

was filled by Ropert Seppings in 1813 but he did not officially retire until 1822. He was knighted by

the Prince Regent George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

on 25 June 1814. Peake died in 1825.

Family

He was married to Sarah Ladd. They had several sons who became eminent Royal Navy officers: *Admiral Thomas Ladd Peake (1782-1865) *Commander William Peake (1780-1813) killed on HMS ''Peacock'' *James Peake *Commander Henry Frederick Peake

Ships built

HMS Polyphemus (1782) HMS ''Polyphemus'', a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 April 1782 at Sheerness. She participated in the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen, the Battle of Trafalgar, and the Siege of Santo Domingo. In 1813 she became ...

64-gun

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 ...

launched at Sheerness * HMS Europa (1783) 50-gun ship of the line launched at Woolwich *

HMS Vanguard (1787) HMS ''Vanguard'' was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 March 1787 at Deptford.Lavery, ''Ships of the Line'' vol.1, p180. She was the sixth vessel to bear the name. In December 1797, Edward Berry, Captain E ...

74-gun ship of the line launched at Deptford * HMS Grampus (1802) 50-gun ship of the line launched at Portsmouth * HMS Colossus (1803) 74-gun ship of the line launched at Deptford *Royal Sovereign (1804) unarmed yacht launched at Deptford * HMS Hebe (1804) 32-gun

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

launched at Deptford *

HMS Arrow (1805) Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Arrow'', after the projectile: * , a 20-gun sloop launched in 1796 that the French frigates and captured near Gibraltar on 4 February 1805; she sank the same day * , a 14-gun cutter launched ...

14-gun

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

launched at Deptford * HMS Minerva (1805) 32-gun frigate launched at Deptford

Ships designed

Note: dates in brackets represent date of design not launch) * HMS Brunswick (1786) 74-gun ship of the line launched in 1790 *

HMS Bermuda Seven commissioned ships of the British Royal Navy have been named ''Bermuda'' and given the prefix HMS (''Her Majesty's Ship'' or ''His Majesty's Ship'', depending on the sex of the monarch), after the British Overseas Territory and former Impe ...

(1806) 10-gun sloop *

Cherokee-class brig-sloop The ''Cherokee'' class was a class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy, mounting ten guns. Brig-sloops were sloops-of-war with two masts (a fore mast and a taller main mast) rather than the three masts of ''ship sloops''. Orders for 115 vessels ...

(1807) a series of over one hundred 10-gun sloop * HMS Rapid (1808) 16-gun sloop * Pygmy-class schooner (1809) 10-gun schooner * Vesuvius-class sloop (1812) 10-gun sloop equipped as a bomb vessel * HMS Terror (1812) Vesuvius class bomb ship * HMS Erebus 10 gun Hecla-class bomb vessel launched in 1826 * Fury-class sloop (1813) 12-gun sloop equipped as a bomb vessel *

HMS Waterloo Two ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Waterloo'', after the Battle of Waterloo. A third ship was planned but never completed: * was an 80-gun third rate, built as HMS ''Talavera'' but renamed in 1817 and launched in 1818. She was ...

(1813) 80-gun ship of the line launched in 1818

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peake, Henry 1825 deaths Surveyors of the Navy 1753 births