HMS Swallow (1703)

HMS Swallow was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard and launched on 10 February 1703.[1]

Etching taken from A voyage (in 1721) to Guinea, Brasil, and the West-Indies; in His Majesty's Ships, the Swallow and Weymouth by John Atkins (naval surgeon) pub. 1735
History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Swallow
Builder:	Harding, Deptford Dockyard
Launched:	10 February 1703
Fate:	Broken up, 1728
General characteristics as built[1]
Class and type:	50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	673 bm
Length:	130 ft (39.6 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	34 ft 6 in (10.5 m)
Depth of hold:	13 ft 6 in (4.1 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Armament:	50 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1719 rebuild[2]
Class and type:	1706 Establishment 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	711 bm
Length:	130 ft (39.6 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	35 ft (10.7 m)
Depth of hold:	14 ft (4.3 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Armament:	50 guns: Gundeck: 22 × 18 pdrs Upper gundeck: 22 × 9 pdrs Quarterdeck: 4 × 6 pdrs Forecastle: 2 × 6 pdrs

Colonel John Lovett in 1708 identified four men of war in this picture as the Roebuck, 42 guns, on the left, along with the Charles Galley, 36 guns, Swallow, 32 guns, and the ketch Aldborough, 24 guns, on the right; all were ships which attended on the construction of the Eddystone lighthouse, those beyond bear the flags of the countries who contributed financially to the project. Plymouth Harbour is in the background

Swallow was rebuilt according to the 1706 Establishment at Chatham Dockyard, and was relaunched on 25 March 1719. Captain Chaloner Ogle commanded Swallow off the West African coast from 1721 and the following year engaged and defeated several pirate ships. Their commander Bartholomew Roberts was killed, and Ogle received a knighthood for his actions. Swallow continued to serve until 1728, when she was broken up.[2]