English ship White Bear (1563)

White Bear[Note 1] was a 40-gun ship of the English Tudor navy, launched in 1563. She was repaired in 1585–86 at Woolwich, and recommissioned under Lord Howard of Effingham. In 1588 she took part in the actions against the Spanish Armada, under the command of Lord Edmund Sheffield. She was rebuilt in 1599 as a 57-gun royal ship.[1]

History
English flagEngland
NameWhite Bear
BuilderWoolwich Dockyard
Launched1563
FateSold, 1629
General characteristics as built
Tons burthen729 tons
General characteristics after 1598-1599 rebuild[1]
Class and type57-gun royal ship
Tons burthen732 tons
Length110 ft (34 m) (keel)
Beam37 ft (11 m)
Depth of hold18 ft (5.5 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement500
Armament
  • 57 guns of various weights of shot (1603) - all brass,
  • comprising 2 cannon periers, 6 demi-cannon, 21 culverins, 16 demi-culverins and 12 sakers

The White Bear remained in service until 1627, when she was deemed unserviceable, and was sold out of the navy at Rochester on 12 June 1629.

The timbers from the White Bear were used to rebuild a burned-down alehouse on the Old Packhorse track running between Halifax and Leeds (now known as The Old White Beare in the village of Norwood Green near Halifax).[2] There is also another pub called "the White Bear" in Bedale (North Yorkshire), which is named after the vessel.[3] The pub sign is adorned with a ship.[4]

Notes

  1. The "HMS" prefix was not used until the middle of the 18th century, but is sometimes applied retrospectively

Citations

  1. Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 158.
  2. Jenkins, Simon (15 March 2012). "Pub Review: The Old White Beare, Village Street, Norwood Green". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  3. Wright, Gordon (2006). The dictionary of pub names. Ware: Wordsworth Editions. p. 472. ISBN 1-84022-266-2.
  4. Chalmers, Graham (13 December 2018). "What's new-look historic North Yorks pub like?". The Harrogate Advertiser. Retrieved 16 January 2019.

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.