HMS Anne (1678)
HMS Anne was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, built by Phineas Pett II at Chatham Dockyard and launched in 1678.[1] Commissioned in 1687, she was burnt to avoid capture, having been run aground after being dismasted during the Battle of Beachy Head in the Nine Years' War. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.
| History | |
|---|---|
 England | |
| Name: | HMS Anne |
| Builder: | Phineas Pett II, Chatham Dockyard |
| Launched: | 1678 |
| Honours and awards: |
Participated in: Battle of Beachy Head |
| Fate: | Burnt, 1690 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type: | 70-gun third rate ship of the line |
| Tons burthen: | 1,089 long tons (1,106.5 t) |
| Length: | 150 ft 10 in (46.0 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam: | 40 ft (12.2 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 17 ft (5.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Armament: | 70 guns of various weights of shot |
Design and construction
Anne was one of twenty new third rate ships of the line ordered in April 1677 under the naval programme of that year, known as the Thirty Ships Programme, which was requested by Samuel Pepys in response to the Dutch and French navies surpassing England in the total number of ships of the line despite the English victory in the Third Anglo-Dutch War.[2]
She had a length of 150 ft 10 in (46.0 m) at her gundeck, a beam of 40 ft 3 in (12.27 m), and a hold depth of 17 ft (5.2 m). She measured 1,051 30⁄94 tons burthen and had a draught of 18 ft (5.5 m).[3] She carried 70 guns with 13 gunports on the sides of each deck and had a crew of 460 men, reduced from a planned 470. According to the 1685 gun establishment, on her lower gun deck, Anne carried 22 demi-cannon and four culverin guns. Her upper deck originally had twenty-six twelve-pounder guns. There were 14 sakers on the forecastle and the quarterdeck, as well as four 3-pounders on the roundhouse.[2]
Built under the supervision of naval architect Master Shipwright Phineas Pett II at Chatham Dockyard, Anne, possibly named after James II of England's daughter the future Queen Anne,[4] was launched in November 1678,[3] part of the first batch of twelve third rates of the 1677 programme.[2]
Service
Anne was commissioned in 1687 under the command of Cloudesley Shovell as the flagship of the Duke of Grafton was part of the fleet that escorted the Queen of Portugal Maria Sophia of Neuberg to Plymouth. During the Nine Years' War, she participated in the Battle of Beachy Head on 30 June 1690 under the command of Captain John Tyrrell as part of the English rear (the blue squadron). Dismasted in the battle, Anne was run aground near Winchelsea on 6 July and burnt to avoid capture.[1][3] She was the only English ship lost during the battle. The remains, on the low water mark of the beach near Pett Level, East Sussex, were designated under the British Protection of Wrecks Act on 20 June 1974. The wreck is owned by the Nautical Museums Trust (Shipwreck Museum Hastings).[4]
Notes
- Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 162.
- Winfield, p. 61
- Winfield, p. 62
- "Anne Wreck". Shipwreck Museum. 2 August 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
References
- Endsor, Richard (2017) Title 'The Warship Anne' History of the new naval fleet of 30 ships begun in 1677 by King Charles II, and the Warship Anne a third rate 70 gun ship.
Historial European Naval situation, Ship Design, construction, Armamant, Battle History, Wreck, Remains Today. Publisher: CONWAY - Bloomsbury Publishing Plc ISBN: PB: 978-1-8448-6439-3