HMS Placentia (1789)

HMS Placentia was the name-ship of her two vessel class, with both vessels being launched in 1789. John Henslow designed the small sloops for coastal patrol duties off Newfoundland. She was wrecked in 1794.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Placentia.

Placenica
History
Great Britain
Name: HMS Placentia
Ordered: May 1789
Builder: Jeffrey & Start, Newfoundland
Launched: 1789
Fate: Wrecked May 1794
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: Placentia-class sloop
Tonnage: 42​33⁄94 (bm)
Length:
  • 44 ft 7 in (13.6 m) (overall)
  • 35 ft 4 5⁄8 in (10.8 m) (keel)
Beam: 15 ft 0 in (4.6 m)
Depth of hold: 8 ft 4 in (2.5 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Sloop
Complement: 30
Armament: 4 x ½-pounder swivel guns

Career

Lieutenant Peter Halkett commissioned her in October 1789. He was followed in 1790 by Lieutenant Caither, who was followed in 1791 by Lieutenant Charles Herbert.[2]

Herbert's successor, in 1792, was Lieutenant John Tucker. Placentia was rated as an armed sloop, and then as an armed ship. In 1794 Lieutenant Alexander Shippard (or Sheppard) assumed command.[1]

Fate

On 7 May 1794 Placentia was sailing towards Burin from Marisheen when a strong current drove her towards the island of Marticot. She anchored off a reef but next morning a swell pushed her onto the rocks. Her crew abandoned her in a sinking state.[3]

Citations
  1. Winfield (2008), p. 355.
  2. Raikes (1846), pp. 50-51.
  3. Hepper (1994), p. 76.

References
  • Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
  • Raikes, Henry (1846). Memoir of the life and services of Vice-admiral Sir Jahleel Brenton, baronet, K.C.B. Hatchard and Son.
  • Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.
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