HMS Northumberland (1679)

HMS Northumberland was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Bristol in June 1679.[1][3]

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

History
England
Name: HMS Northumberland
Builder: Baylie, Bristol
Launched: June 1679
Fate: Wrecked, 27 November 1703, on the Goodwin Sands
General characteristics as built[1]
Class and type: 70-gun third-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1041​23⁄94 (bm)
Length: 152 ft (46.3 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 40 ft 4 in (12.3 m)
Depth of hold: 17 ft (5.2 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Armament: 70 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1702 rebuild[2]
Class and type: 70-gun third-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1105​71⁄94 (bm)
Length: 152 ft (46.3 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 40 ft 4 in (12.3 m)
Depth of hold: 17 ft 3 in (5.3 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Armament: 70 guns of various weights of shot

Service

She fought in the War of the Grand Alliance.

In 1702, she was rebuilt at Chatham Dockyard, though she was lost with all 253 crew on the Goodwin Sands in the Great Storm of the following year.[2][4] The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.

Wreck

The remains of the Northumberland lie south of three wrecks of other ships lost in the same storm - the Stirling Castle, Restoration and Mary.[5] The Northumberland and Mary (the latter misidentified as the Restoration) were found by recreational divers in 1980.[5] The site was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 the following year.[5] The current designation is under Statutory Instrument 2004/2395, of a 300 m radius around 51° 15.4802’ N 01° 30.0161’ E.[5]

The Archaeological Diving Unit (ADU) conducted a number of dives on the site over the next three decades and since 1999 technology has been applied in the form of magnetometer and side-scan sonar surveys.[5] The wreck was originally identified by the discovery of a bell and stock with the naval broad arrow and date; subsequently the ADU have found guns, two copper cauldrons and an anchor. The site consists of a large mound approximately 40 metres (130 ft) long by 20 metres (66 ft) wide, lying NW/SE near Fork Spit on the western edge of the Goodwin Sands. Parts are 3 metres (9.8 ft) above the surrounding seabed, but much of the structure is thought to be buried below the sand. A dense turf of juvenile mussels covers most features, making it hard to identify them.[5] There is a coherent piece of ship's structure just south of the centre of the designated area, with large timbers and some exposed planking, possibly corresponding to the region between the first and second futtocks (ribs) of the vessel.[5]

Notes
  1. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p162.
  2. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p167.
  3. "British Third Rate ship of the line 'Northumberland' (1679)". Threedecks. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  4. Larn, Richard (1977). Goodwin Sands Shipwrecks. Newton Abbot, London, North Pomfret: David & Charles. p. 56. ISBN 0 7153 7202 5.
  5. Wessex Archaeology (November 2006), RESTORATION, GOODWIN SANDS DESIGNATED SITE ASSESSMENT: ARCHAEOLOGICAL REPORT (PDF), English Heritage, p. 11, retrieved 24 August 2009

References

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