HMS Defiance (1666)

HMS Defiance was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy,[1] ordered on 26 October 1664 under the new construction programme of that year, and launched on 27 March 1666 at William Castle's private shipyard at Deptford in the presence of King Charles II.

History
England
Name	HMS Defiance
Builder	William Castle, Deptford
Launched	27 March 1666
Commissioned	Spring 1666
Fate	Burnt by accident, 6 December 1668
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	64-gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	863.5 tons
Length	117 ft (36 m) (keel)
Beam	37 ft 3 in (11.35 m)
Depth of hold	15 ft 3 in (4.65 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	320
Armament	64 guns comprising 22 demi-cannon, 28 culverins and 14 demi-culverins

She was commissioned under Sir Robert Holmes and took part in the Four Days Battle on 1 June 1666 – 4 June 1666. Following the battle, Holmes was briefly replaced by Captain William Flawes, but a month later command was taken by Rear-Admiral Sir John Kempthorne. In September 1667 Holmes, now Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, was back in command, but later that year he gave way to Sir John Harman in the same role. Defiance was accidentally destroyed by fire at Chatham on 6 December 1668.[1]

Samuel Pepys was a member of the Court Martial of the ship's gunner who was accused of causing the loss of the ship. In Pepys' diary entry for 25 March 1669, he writes that the ship was lost due to the "neglect" of the gunner "in trusting a girl to carry fire into his cabin".