HMS Ruby Prize (1694)

Ruby Prize was the French privateer Entreprenante, commissioned in 1693 at Brest, that HMS Ruby captured in 1694 and that the British Royal Navy named Ruby Prize (or Ruby's Prize), and sold in 1698. Her new owners renamed her Ruby and she left the Downs in 1699 on a voyage to Persia for the EIC. She was lost with all hands later that year at Mayota.

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Entreprenant, HMS Ruby, and Ruby (ship).

History
French Royal Navy EnsignFrance
NameEntreprenante
BuilderBrest
Commissioned1693
Captured7 April 1694
Royal Navy EnsignEngland
NameHMS Ruby Prize
Acquired17 April 1694 by capture
FateSold May 1698
British East India CompanyBritish East India Company
NameRuby
AcquiredMay 1698 by purchase
FateFoundered 1699[Note 1]
General characteristics [2]
Tons burthen4201⁄94, or 450[3] (bm)
Length
  • 108 ft 0 in (32.9 m) (gundeck)
  • 82 ft 2 in (25.0 m) (keel)
Beam31 ft 0 in (9.4 m)
Depth of hold13 ft 6 in (4.1 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement
  • HMS
    • War (abroad):190
    • War (at home):160
    • Peace:120
  • Ruby:90
Armament
  • HMS:
    • Lower deck:18 × 9-pounder guns
    • Upper deck:20 × 6-pounder guns
    • QD:6 × 3-pounder guns
  • Ruby:32 guns[3]

In 1693 French private parties acquired Entreprenante at Brest and commissioned her as a privateer of 44 guns.[2]

HMS Ruby captured Entreprenante on 7 April 1694.[2]

The Royal Navy purchased Entreprenante on 27 March 1695 and commissioned her as the fifth-rate Ruby Prize on 15 April 1695 under the command of Captain Thomas Elkins.[2]

Ruby Prize was among the vessels that sailed with Admiral Russell on 27 February 1696 from the Downs. The next day she was with him on the coast of France. At the time she had 156 men aboard.[4] She was next mentioned in an order of 2 March 1696 that ordered the named vessels to sail to the Nore and there to turn over their crews to man the "great ships' fitting out there.[5]

In 1696 Ruby Prize was listed as a storeship at the Nore. In 1696 Captain Samuel Vincent replaced Elkins, and within the year Captain John Herne replaced Vincent.[2]

The Royal Navy sold Ruby Prize on 24 May 1698 for £501.[2] Apparently it required an Act of Parliament to authorize her to have the "Freedom of trading as an English-built ship".[6]

Merchantman

Richard Wells, Rotherhithe, purchased Ruby Prize and dropped the "Prize" from her name.[1]

Captain John Barber sailed Ruby from the Downs on 28 April 1699, bound for Persia on a voyage for the EIC.[3] Ruby foundered at Mayotte in 1699,[7] with the loss of all hands.[1]

Notes
  1. Hackman gives the year as 1701.[1]

Citations
  1. Hackman (2001), p. 42.
  2. Winfield (2010), p. 167.
  3. British Library: Ruby (3).
  4. Lords (1903), p.365.
  5. Lords (1903), p.322.
  6. Commons (1803), Vol. 12, p.365.
  7. Lane (2012), p. 26.

References
  • Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-96-7.
  • Commons, House of, Parliament of Great Britain (1803) Journals of the House of Commons, Vol. 12. (HMSO).
  • Lords, House of, Parliament of Great Britain (1903) The manuscripts of the House of Lords, Volume 2. (HMSO).
  • Lane, Paul J. (2012). "Maritime and Shipwreck Archaeology in the Western Indian Ocean and Southern Red Sea: An Overview of Past and Current Research". Journal of Maritime Archaeology. 7 (1): 9–41. Bibcode:2012JMarA...7....9L. doi:10.1007/s11457-012-9102-0. S2CID 161059259.
  • Winfield, Rif (2010). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603–1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-040-6.
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