HMS Sapphire (1675)

HMS Sapphire was a 32-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy.

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

History
England
Name: Sapphire
Ordered: 30 September 1675
Builder: Anthony Deane, Harwich
Launched: June 1675
Fate: Sunk on 11 September 1696
General characteristics
Class and type: 32-gun fifth rate
Tons burthen: 340 ​81⁄94 bm
Length:
  • 105 ft 8 in (32.2 m) (overall)
  • 89 ft (27.1 m) (keel)
Beam: 26 ft 10 in (8.2 m)
Draught: 13 ft 2 in (4.0 m)
Depth of hold: 10 ft (3.05 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Complement: 135/115/90
Armament:
  • Under 1677 Establishment: 32/28
  • Lower deck: 18 x demi-culverins
  • Upper deck: 10 x sakers
  • Quarter deck: 4 x minions
  • Under 1685 Establishment: 28
  • 16 × 8 pdr sakers
  • 10 × minions
  • 2 × 3 pdrs

History

HMS Sapphire was designed and built by Sir Anthony Deane at Harwich in 1675, at a cost of £4,175.

In 1677, Sapphire was the first command of Cloudesley Shovell, who later became Admiral of the Fleet and eventually died in the Scilly naval disaster of 1707.[1]

Sapphire was cornered in Bay Bulls Harbour by a French squadron in August–September 1696. Her master, Captain Thomas Cleasby, in fear that the French would capture the ship, scuttled her and escaped across land to the colony of Ferryland.

The area of the wreck and surrounding debris fields, including any and all remaining in-situ artifacts, has been protected as a Provincial Historic Site, and was listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places on 23 August 2005.[2]

In the video game Assassin's Creed Rogue, Sapphire's wreck could be visited by the protagonist Shay Cormac in the North Atlantic. Once Shay collects all 24 Templar artifacts, he could claim an armor belonging from the original Knights Templar of the 11th century.

References
  1. www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk - The legacy of Sir Cloudsley Shovel
  2. "Bay Bulls Harbour Provincial Historic Site". www.historicplaces.ca. 23 August 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2020.

See also
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Winfield, Rif (2009) British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-040-6.
  • Lavery, Brian (1981) Deanes Doctrine of Naval Architecture Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-180-7.
  • Barber, V.C. (1976) International Journal of Nautical Archaeology Vol. 5(4) pp. 353–356.
  • Canadian Geographic Feb/Mar 1979 - An article that appeared in Canadian Geographic about the Sapphire.
  • International Journal of Nautical Archaeology - 6.4, 1977 pp. 305–313
  • Initial Report on the Underwater Survey and Excavation of the wreck of HMS Sapphire in Bay Bulls, 1977 (Newfoundland Marine Archaeological Society)
  • Second Report on the Underwater Survey and Excavation of the wreck of HMS Sapphire in Bay Bulls, 1977 (Newfoundland Marine Archaeological Society)
  • Third Report on the Underwater Survey and Excavation of the wreck of HMS Sapphire in Bay Bulls, 1977. Additional notes on wreck 1 are included. (Newfoundland Marine Archaeology Society)
  • Final Report on the Underwater Survey and Excavation of the wreck of HMS Sapphire in Bay Bulls, 1977. (Newfoundland Marine Archaeological Society)
  • Canadian Collector Vol 20(2), March 1985 - Artifacts of the Sapphire


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