HMS Norwich (1693)

HMS Norwich was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Deptford on 24 August 1693.[1][3]

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Norwich and HMS Enterprise.

History
Great Britain
Name: HMS Norwich
Ordered: 1693
Builder: Castle, Deptford
Launched: 24 August 1693
Renamed: HMS Enterprise, 1744
Fate: Broken up, 1771
General characteristics as built[1]
Class and type: 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 618 bm
Length: 123 ft 8 in (37.7 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 33 ft 10 in (10.3 m)
Depth of hold: 13 ft 6.5 in (4.1 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Armament: 50 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1718 rebuild[2]
Class and type: 1706 Establishment 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 703 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

She was rebuilt according to the 1706 Establishment at Chatham Dockyard, relaunching on 20 May 1718. In 1744 she was reduced to a fifth rate and renamed HMS Enterprise.[2]

Engagements

HMS Norwich took part in the destruction of the fortress of San Lorenzo el Real Chagres (22-24 March 1740), in Panama, as part of a squadron commanded by Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon during the War of Jenkins' Ear.

At 3 pm on 22 March 1740, the English squadron, composed of the ships Strafford, Norwich, Falmouth and Princess Louisa, the frigate Diamond, the bomb vessels Alderney, Terrible and Cumberland, the fireships Success and Eleanor, and transports Goodly and Pompey, under Vernon's command, began to bombard the Spanish fortress. Given the overwhelming superiority of the English forces, Captain Don Juan Carlos Gutiérrez Cevallos surrendered the fort on 24 March, after resisting for two days. In 1743 as part of a squadron commanded by Commodore Charles Knowles participated in the failed attacks to La Guayra and Puerto Cabello.

In the 1744 she was renamed as HMS Enterprise and patrolled the Caribbean until the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1748, when she was laid up in ordinary.

Enterprise was recommissioned in 1756 at the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, again for service in the West Indies and North America and resumed her duties as Atlantic convoy escort. In 1762 she was present at the siege and capture of Havana, Cuba, an action involving nearly 60 warships and transports enough for more than 16,000 troops.

Enterprise was decommissioned in January 1764 and was broken up in 1771 at Sheerness.[2]

Plan of a furnace for the 1718 rebuild

Notes
  1. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p164.
  2. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p168.
  3. "British Fourth Rate ship of the line 'Norwich' (1693)". Threedecks. Retrieved 2 September 2019.

References
  • Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.


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