Engineering:HMS Portland (1770)

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Short description: Ship of the line of the Royal Navy
HMS 'Portland', by Joseph Marshall LW SCMU 1864 0008 0002.jpg
HMS Portland (1770)
History
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
Name: Portland
Builder: Sheerness Dockyard
Commissioned: 25 September 1770
Reinstated: November 1797 refitted as a unrated prison ship
Honours and
awards:
Affair of Fielding and Bylandt
Fate: Sold 19 May 1817 to Daniel List for £800
General characteristics
Tons burthen: 1,044 ​7794
Length: 146 ft (44.5 m) (gundeck)
Depth of hold: 17 ft 6 in (5.3 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Armament:
  • 50 guns:
  • Gundeck: 22 × 24 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 22 × 12 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 4 × 6 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6 pdrs

HMS Portland was a 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Designed by Sir John Williams, it was first launched on 11 April 1770.[1]

Service

American Revolution: On 13 February, 1778 she captured sloop "Swallow" 108 Leagues south west of Anguilla.[2]

Issue with privateers

During the American Revolution, the Portland captured the privateer ship known as the Hammond. This would result in the ship's captain, Thomas Dumaresq and flag officer Admiral James Young getting arrested by the Court of Vice-Admiralty at Antigua due to the tribunal of declaring the privateers as legal even without the proper paperwork. This resulted in a high-profile case surrounding Captain Thomas Dumaresq of the Portland that had the First Lord of the Admiralty, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich and King George III involved. Eventually after a deal between the British government and Antigua, charges were dropped.[3]

Lines of Portland

References