History
Great Britain
Name	Earl of Mansfield
Operator	East India Company
Builder	Wells & Co. Rotherhithe
Fate	Sold on stocks to Royal Navy
Great Britain
Name	HMS Weymouth
Builder	Wells & Co. Rotherhithe
Launched	30 September 1795
Acquired	By purchase on the stocks
Commissioned	Never
In service	1796
Fate	Wrecked 21 January 1800
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Fourth rate
Tons burthen	1416,[2] or 143356⁄94 (bm)
Length	175 ft 6 in (53.5 m) (overall) 144 ft 1 in (43.9 m) (keel)
Beam	43 ft 3 in (13.2 m)
Depth of hold	19 ft 7 in (6.0 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	344 (Fourth rate)
Armament	Fourth rate: Lower deck (LD):28 × 18-pounder guns Upper deck (UD): 28 x 32-pounder carronades Transport: 26 guns

HMS Weymouth was laid down as the East Indiaman Earl of Mansfield. The British Royal Navy purchased her on the stocks to use as a 56-gun fourth rate. She was launched in 1795 but never was commissioned in the Royal Navy. She was transferred in February 1796 to the Transportation Board as a transport. Lieutenant Robert Passmore took command in June 1796. Commander Charles Ryder succeeded Passmore in July 1798, and Commander Ambrose Crofton replaced Ryder in August 1799.

Having sailed from Portsmouth, she was wrecked on 21 January 1800 on the bar in the Tagus on the coast of Portugal as Crofton was attempting to sail her into Lisbon harbour.^[3] Her crew was saved.^[4]

Citations

References

• Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-96-7.
• Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.