English ship Merhonour (1590)

Merhonour[Note 2] was a ship of the Tudor navy of England. It was built in 1590 by Mathew Baker at Woolwich Dockyard, and was rebuilt by Phineas Pett I at Woolwich between 1612 and 1615, being relaunched on 6 March 1615 as a 40-gun royal ship.[1] It was then laid up at Chatham, only briefly returning to service in the 1630s. It was nevertheless considered to be one of the fastest ships in the Navy.[1]

History
English FlagEngland
NameMerhonour
BuilderWoolwich Dockyard
Launched1590
Reinstated1615 after rebuilding
FateSold, 1650
General characteristics as built [1]
Tons burthen692 bm
Length100 ft (30 m) (keel)
Beam37 ft (11 m)
Depth of hold17 ft (5.2 m)
Complement400 (by 1603)
Armament
General characteristics after 1615 rebuild[Note 1][1]
Class and type40-gun royal ship
Tons burthen865 bm
Length112 ft (34 m) (keel)
Beam38 ft 7 in (11.76 m)
Depth of hold16 ft 5 in (5.00 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement400
Armament
  • 40 guns
  • 2 × cannon periers
  • 6 × demi-cannon
  • 12 × culverins
  • 12 × demi-culverins
  • 8 × sakers
  • 4 × smaller guns

Merhonour was sold out of the navy in 1650.[2]

Notes

  1. Lavery's details are challenged by both Colledge, and Winfield. Both describe a 1590 build date at Woolwich, while Winfield describes in detail the armament and dimensions both as launched and after the 1615 rebuild.
  2. The 'HMS' prefix was not used until the middle of the eighteenth century, but is sometimes applied retrospectively

Citations

  1. Winfield. British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1603-1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.
  2. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p158.

References


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