HMS Seaford (1695)

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

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Seaford
Builder	Richard Herring, Bursledon
Cost	1,688.18.2d
Acquired	27 December 1695
Commissioned	Late 1695
Captured	5 May 1697
Fate	Taken by French Squadron and burnt
General characteristics
Type	20-gun Sixth Rate
Tons burthen	293+60⁄94 bm
Length	98 ft 5 in (30.0 m) gundeck 81 ft 3 in (24.8 m) keel for tonnage
Beam	26 ft 1 in (8.0 m) for tonnage
Depth of hold	10 ft 10 in (3.3 m)
Complement	110
Armament	initially as ordered 24 × sakers on wooden trucks (UD) 4 × 3-pdr on wooden trucks (QD)

HMS Seaford was purchased from Richard Herring of Bursledon, who had built the vessel on speculation to a similar specification as the Maidstone Group. After she was commissioned, she sailed as part of the expedition to recapture Fort York on Hudson Bay. She was also part of Symond's squadron in the West Indies, where she was captured and burnt by the French in 1697.

Seaford was the first named ship tin the Royal Navy.

Construction

She was purchased from Richard Herring of Bursledon for 1,688.18.2d per ship with another £2,513. Her gundeck was 98 feet 5 inches (30.0 metres) with a keel length of 81 feet 3 inches (24.8 metres) for tonnage calculation. The breadth would be 26 feet 1 inch (8.0 metres) for tonnage with a depth of hold of 10 feet 18 inches (3.5 metres). The tonnage calculation would be 293+60⁄94. her gun armament would be twenty-four sakers mounted on wooden trucks located on the upper deck (UD) with a further four 3-pounders mounted on wooden trucks on the quarterdeck (QD). A saker or sacar was a muzzle-loading smoothbore gun of 1,400 pounds in weight with a 3+1⁄2-inch bore firing a 5+1⁄2-pound shot with a 5+1⁄2-pound powder charge.

Commissioned service

She was commissioned in late 1695 under the command of Captain John Grange, RN. She was part of the 1696 Hudson Bay expedition to recapture Fort York at the mouth of the Nelson River. Captain Grange died in August 1696 with Captain John Watkins, RN assuming command on the 14th. On 19 January 1697 Captain George Walton, RN took command and sailed with Symond's squadron to the West Indies in April 1697.

Disposition

HMS Seaford was taken by a French squadron off the Isles of Scilly on 5 May 1697 and burnt.

References

• Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail (1603 – 1714), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, EPUB ISBN 9781783469246, Chapter 6, The Sixth Rates, Vessels acquired from 18 December 1688, Sixth Rates of 20 guns and up to 26 guns, Purchased Vessel (1695), Seaford
• Colledge, Ships of the Royal Navy, by J.J. Colledge, revised and updated by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow and Steve Bush, published by Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, Great Britain, © 2020, e ISBN 978-1-5267-9328-7 (EPUB), Section S (Seaford)