San Esteban Apedreado

The San Esteban Apedreado was a fifth-rate frigate built in the Guarnizo shipyard near Santander, Spain, by Lorenzo Arzueta. Her length was 36.28 metres (119.0 ft), keel 32.59 metres (106.9 ft), beam 9.31 metres (30.5 ft) and depth in the hold 4.68 metres (15.4 ft). She displaced 625 tons. She carried eighteen 12-pounder guns on the lower gun deck, eighteen 8-pounder guns on the upper gun deck, and four 4-pounder guns on the quarterdeck. As of 1741 she had a crew of 350.[1]

The San Esteban Apedreado was acquired by the Spanish navy in 1726. In 1730 she was stationed at Havana. She sailed from Havana on 26 May 1731 carrying 4,000,000 pesos and reached Cádiz on 14 July 1731. In October 1731 she carried troops from Cadiz to Livorno with the fleet of the Marquis del Mari. She returned to Cadiz to be careened in February 1732.[1] The San Esteban Apedreado left Cadiz in 1736 and sailed to Buenos Aires. On 18 August 1736 she was engaged with a Portuguese ship carrying 60 guns for two hours. On 26 August 1736 she captured the Portuguese frigate Madre de Dios. On 15 January 1737 she was back at Buenos Aires. In April that year she was in the Rio de la Plata with the Hermione, San Francisco Javier and Paloma Indiana. She left for Spain with the Hermione in 1739 carrying 600,000 pesos.[1] The San Esteban Apedreado and Hermione reached Ferrol, Galicia, in 1740 and entered Cadiz in April 1740.[1]

The San Estéban Apedreado left Ferrol on 7 October 1740 in Vice-Admiral José Alfonso Pizarro's squadron, but was forced back due to bad weather, The squadron left Ferrol again on 21 October 1740.[1] In 1741 a fleet under Commodore Anson left England to attack the coasts of Chile and Peru.[2] The Spanish government ordered General José Pizarro to respond with his squadron consisting of the ships Asia (64), Guipúzcoa (74), Hermione (54) and Esperanza (50) and the frigate San Estéban (40).[3] At the end of February the squadron was just west of Cape Horn when it was dispersed by a violent storm. With continuing poor weather the San Estéban was forced to return to the Rio de la Plata.[3] On her arrival she ran ashore. She was recovered, but had been badly damaged. She was broken up in 1744.[1]

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