History
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
NameHMS Dorsetshire
BuilderWinter, Southampton
Launched8 December 1694
FateSold, 1749
General characteristics as built[1]
Class and type80-gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen1,176
Length153 ft 4.5 in (46.7 m) (gundeck)
Beam42 ft (12.8 m)
Depth of hold18 ft (5.5 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament80 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1712 rebuild[2]
Class and type1706 Establishment 80-gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen1,289
Length156 ft (47.5 m) (gundeck)
Beam43 ft 6 in (13.3 m)
Depth of hold17 ft 8 in (5.4 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • 80 guns:
  • Gundeck: 26 × 32 pdrs
  • Middle gundeck: 26 × 12 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 24 × 6 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 4 × 6 pdrs

HMS Dorsetshire, the first Royal Navy ship to be named after the county of Dorset, was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Southampton on 8 December 1694.[1]

Dorsetshire came under the command of Edward Whitaker in 1704 and she was at the capture of Gibraltar (but out of commission). Whitaker then took the ship to play a part in the Battle of Málaga the same year.[3]

She was rebuilt according to the 1706 Establishment at Portsmouth Dockyard, and relaunched on 20 September 1712. As built, Dorsetshire had carried her 80-gun armament on two decks, but during this rebuild they were redistributed over a third gundeck, although she continued to be classified as a third rate.[2]

Dorsetshire continued to serve until 1749, when she was sold out of the navy.[2]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 163.
  2. 1 2 3 Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 167.
  3. ↑ J. K. Laughton, ‘Whitaker, Sir Edward (1660?–1735)’, rev. J. D. Davies, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 28 April 2013

References

  • Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.


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