HMS Bulwark (1807)

HMS Bulwark was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 23 April 1807 at Portsmouth. She was designed by Sir William Rule as one of the large class 74s, and was the only ship built to her draught. As a large 74, she carried 24-pounder guns on her upper gun deck instead of the 18 pounders found on the middling and common class 74s.[1]

HMS Bulwark (centre left) as a hulk in Portsmouth in 1826
History
Great Britain
Name: HMS Bulwark
Ordered: 6 November 1794
Builder: Portsmouth Dockyard
Laid down: April 1804
Launched: 23 April 1807
Fate: Broken up, 1825
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: 74-gun third-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1,9398094 (bm)
Length:
  • 181 ft 10 in (55.4 m) (gundeck);
  • 150 ft 4 14 in (45.8 m) (keel)
Beam: 49 ft 3 in (15.0 m)
Depth of hold: 20 ft 7 in (6.3 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Armament:
  • Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
  • Upper gundeck: 30 × 24-pounder guns
  • QD: 12 × 9-pounder guns
  • Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

On 24 March 1812, Bulwark was in company with Tonnant, Hogue, Colossus and Poictiers when they captured Emilie.[2]

On 22 May 1814, Bulwark recaptured Tiger, Cowan, master. The American privateer Yankee had captured Tiger as Tiger was sailing from Malaga to London. Tiger arrived at Halifax on 28 July.[3] The records of the Vice admiralty court at Halifax show that Tyger, Henry Davidson, master, had been sailing from Malaga to Stettin, and that Bulwark had recaptured her on 24 July.[4]

On 23 October 1814 Bulwark captured the American privateer schooner Harlequin, of 330 tons (bm), ten 12-pounder guns, and 115 men. She had been out only four days when captured.[5]

On 22 January 1815, Bulwark captured the American privateer schooner Tomahawk, of Baltimore. She was of 210 tons (bm), had a crew of 84 men under the command of Philip Besson, and was armed with eight 9-pounder carronades and a 24-pounder on a pivot carriage. She had been commissioned on 11 January and was two days out of Boston and had not captured anything.[6][7]

Fate

Bulwark was broken up at Portsmouth on 26 September 1826.[8]

Citations and references

Citations

  1. Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 184.
  2. "No. 16705". The London Gazette. 20 February 1813. p. 381.
  3. Lloyd's List 6 September 1814.
  4. Vice admiralty court (1911), p.161.
  5. "No. 16959". The London Gazette. 22 November 1814. p. 2314.
  6. "No. 16966". The London Gazette. 21 March 1815. p. 535.
  7. Cranwell & Crane (1940), p. 159.
  8. Winfield (2008), p. 39.

References

  • Cranwell, John Philips, & William Bowers Crane (1940) Men of marque; a history of private armed vessels out of Baltimore during the War of 1812. (New York, W.W. Norton & Co.).
  • Hannings, Bud (2012) The War of 1812: A Complete Chronology with Biographies of 63 General Officers. (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland). ISBN 978-0-7864-6385-5
  • 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.
  • Vice Admiralty court: American vessels captured by the British during the revolution and war of 1812; the records of the Vice-admiralty court at Halifax, Nova Scotia. (1911) (Salem, Mass.: The Essex institute).
  • Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 17931817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1861762467.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.