HMS Ramillies (1763)

HMS Ramillies was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 April 1763 at Chatham Dockyard.[1]

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

Loss of HMS Ramillies by Robert Dodd artist
History
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
NameHMS Ramillies
Ordered1 December 1759
BuilderChatham Dockyard
Launched15 April 1763
FateBurned, 1782
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeRamillies-class ship of the line
Tons burthen1619 (bm)
Length168 ft 6 in (51.36 m) (gundeck)
Beam46 ft 9 in (14.25 m)
Depth of hold19 ft 9 in (6.02 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
  • Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns
  • Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

Career

Ramillies took part in the action of 9 August 1780, when a convoy she was escorting fell prey to a Spanish squadron. 55 merchantmen were captured, but she managed to escape.[2]

In 1782 she was the flagship of a fleet under Admiral Thomas Graves off Newfoundland. Ramillies was badly damaged in a violent storm of 1782, and was finally abandoned and burned on 21 September 1782.[3]

On 16–19 September, she was escorting a convoy from Jamaica when they were hit by the storm. Frantic efforts were made to save her. All anchors, cannon, and masts were shipped over the side. The hull was bound together with rope, officers and men manned the pumps for 24 hours a day for 3 days. However despite all the water continued to rise. The exhausted crew were rescued by nearby merchantmen, and the last man, Captain Sylverius Moriarty,[4] set her on fire as he left.

Robert Dodd painted a series of four documenting the tragedy. "The demise of the Ramillies" comprises: "A Storm coming on", "The Storm increas'd", "The Ramillies Water Logg'd with her Admiral & Crew quitting the Wreck", and "The Ramillies Destroyed". In 1795 a set of four coloured mezzotints were engraved and published by Jukes from his shop at No.10 Howland Street.[5][6]

  • "A Storm Coming On"
    "A Storm Coming On"
  • "The Storm increas'd. Distressed situation of the Ramillies when Day broke with the Dutton Store Ship foundering"
    "The Storm increas'd. Distressed situation of the Ramillies when Day broke with the Dutton Store Ship foundering"
  • "The Ramillies Water Logg'd with her Admiral & Crew quitting the Wreck",
    "The Ramillies Water Logg'd with her Admiral & Crew quitting the Wreck",
  • "Ship abandoned in abating storm"
    "Ship abandoned in abating storm"
  • "Blowing up of the wreck"
    "Blowing up of the wreck"

Notes
  1. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p177.
  2. Lacour-Gayet (1905), p. 318.
  3. The sinking
  4. Sylverius Moriarty
  5. Paintings "The demise of the Ramillies" Archived 18 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  6. The Ramillies Destroyed

References
  • Lacour-Gayet, Georges (1905). La marine militaire de la France sous le règne de Louis XVI. Paris: Honoré Champion. OCLC 763372623.
  • 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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