HMS Placentia (1789)
HMS Placentia was the name-ship of her two vessel class, with both vessels being launched in 1789. John Henslow designed the small sloops for coastal patrol duties off Newfoundland. She was wrecked in 1794.
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History | |
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Name: | HMS Placentia |
Ordered: | May 1789 |
Builder: | Jeffrey & Start, Newfoundland |
Launched: | 1789 |
Fate: | Wrecked May 1794 |
General characteristics [1] | |
Class and type: | Placentia-class sloop |
Tonnage: | 4233⁄94 (bm) |
Length: |
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Beam: | 15 ft 0 in (4.6 m) |
Depth of hold: | 8 ft 4 in (2.5 m) |
Propulsion: | Sails |
Sail plan: | Sloop |
Complement: | 30 |
Armament: | 4 x ½-pounder swivel guns |
Career
Lieutenant Peter Halkett commissioned her in October 1789. He was followed in 1790 by Lieutenant Caither, who was followed in 1791 by Lieutenant Charles Herbert.[2]
Herbert's successor, in 1792, was Lieutenant John Tucker. Placentia was rated as an armed sloop, and then as an armed ship. In 1794 Lieutenant Alexander Shippard (or Sheppard) assumed command.[1]
Fate
On 7 May 1794 Placentia was sailing towards Burin from Marisheen when a strong current drove her towards the island of Marticot. She anchored off a reef but next morning a swell pushed her onto the rocks. Her crew abandoned her in a sinking state.[3]
Citations
- Winfield (2008), p. 355.
- Raikes (1846), pp. 50-51.
- Hepper (1994), p. 76.
References
- Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
- Raikes, Henry (1846). Memoir of the life and services of Vice-admiral Sir Jahleel Brenton, baronet, K.C.B. Hatchard and Son.
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.