Royal Navy 64 gun ship-of-the-line
HMS "York" was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 24 March 1796. She served briefly in the West Indies where she captured numerous small vessels. She was wrecked in 1804.
Origins.
She had originally been laid down at Barnard's Deptford yard as an East Indiaman named "Royal Admiral". The outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars resulted in a shortage of warships, which led the Navy Board to purchase five ships being built or serviced in commercial dockyards along the River Thames and to complete them as warships. Alongside "Royal Admiral", the Navy acquired the merchantmen "Belmont", "Princess Royal", "Earl Talbot" and "Pigot"; they became , , , and respectively. As a 64-gun ship, "York" was a small third rate; this combined with her unusual build resulting from her conversion from a mercantile craft to a warship to make her a slightly ungainly and awkward ship.
Career.
Captain John Ferrier commissioned "York" in April 1796. He then sailed her for the Leeward Islands on 4 January 1797.
She spent much of her early career in the Caribbean Sea.
On 8 February 1798, she captured the small American schooner "Fancy" near St Thomas. "York" had to fire 15 shots before the schooner hove to, and when the boarding party from "York" arrived, they found 12 French passengers aboard, who were in the act of throwing five bags of money overboard. "York" brought "Fancy" into Môle-Saint-Nicolas where she was condemned as a prize. Apparently she had also been carrying 25,000 dollars of gold hidden on board but that most of it had been smuggled ashore.
In June–July 1799, "York" captured "Santa Dorval", a Spanish packet boat, of four guns, 22 men, and 86 tons (bm). She was sailing from Vera Cruz to Havanna, and under the command of Lieutenant Don Joseph Bonefacio of the Spanish navy. , , , and were in company with "York".
Then in June 1799 "York" captured several merchant vessels:
In July, "York" and captured or detained:
In late 1800, "York" captured "Cronberg", Molder, master, which had been sailing from St Croix and Havana to London. "York" brought "Cronberg" into Jamaica.
In 1801 "York" sailed back to Britain as escort to a convoy of 155 merchant vessels, all of which reached their destination safely. For his service the West Indian merchants thanked Ferrier and presented him with a piece of plate.
"York" then served under Admiral Nelson in his unsuccessful attacks on Boulogne.
On the night of 15 August the boats of the Third Division, under Captain Isaac Cotgrave, assembled on "York"'s deck. They attacked but had to withdraw between 3 and 4am on the morning of 16 August. In the attack, the British lost five officers and men killed, and 31 wounded. Three of the dead and 16 of the wounded were from "York".
"York" was paid off and placed into ordinary in June 1802 at Woolwich. Between October 1802 and August 1803 she underwent repair and refitting at Deptford. Captain Henry Mitford recommissioned her in June 1803.
Fate.
She departed Woolwich on 26 December 1803 for a routine patrol in the North Sea. She went missing and was presumed to have foundered with the loss of all hands. It appears that she struck Bell Rock () in the North Sea off Arbroath, and that this was the impetus for the building of the Bell Rock lighthouse three years later. Wreckage was found at Cruden Bay and St Coombs, both in Buchan, Aberdeenshire.
Citations.
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References.
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