HMS Newcastle (1750)

History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Newcastle
Ordered:	11 November 1745
Builder:	Peirson Lock, Portsmouth Dockyard
Laid down:	17 June 1746
Launched:	4 December 1750
Commissioned:	March 1755
In service:	1755–1761
Fate:	Wrecked off Pondicherry, 1 January 1761
General characteristics
Class and type:	1745 Establishment 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	105246⁄94(bm)
Length:	144 ft (43.9 m) (gundeck); 117 ft 8 in (35.9 m) (keel);
Beam:	41 ft 0 in (12.5 m)
Depth of hold:	17 ft 8 in (5.4 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	350
Armament:	Gundeck: 22 × 24-pounder guns; Upper deck: 22 × 12-pounder guns; Quarterdeck: 4 × 6-pounder guns; Forecastle: 2 × 6-pounder guns;

HMS Newcastle was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1750 and in active service during the Seven Years' War against France. Principally engaged in defending British settlements in India, she was wrecked in a storm off Pondicherry in January 1761.

Fate

On 1 January 1761, a cyclone off Pondicherry, drove Newcastle, HMS Queenborough, and HMS Protector onshore, where they wrecked. Newcastle was able to leave harbour, but the wind shifted, impeding her and eventually driving her ashore two miles south of Pondicherry. The same storm also caught HMS Duc D'Aquitaine and HMS Sunderland. They tried to get out to open water, but were unable to. When they anchored the sea overwhelmed them and they both foundered, each with the loss of almost all on board.[1]

Notes

Hepper (1994), p.44-5.

References

Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
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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[1] Hepper (1994), p.44-5.