HMS Scarborough was a 32-gun fifth rate vessel built at Woolwich Dockyard in 1693/94. Shortly after being commissioned, she was taken by two French privateers and went under French service. She was recaptured in 1697 and renamed Milford. Milford spent some time off in Africa and the West Indies before being rebuilt in 1705. She was in the North Sea, the Mediterranean, and finally the West Indies, where she was wrecked in 1720.
She was the second vessel to bear the name Scarborough since it was used for a 10-gun ketch. The first Scarborough was built by Frame of Scarborough in 2 May 1691 and captured by the French on 12 January 1693.Colledge (2020), Section S, (Scarborough)
As HMS Milford, she was the fourth named vessel since it was used for a 22-gun ship built by Page of Wivenhoe in 1654, originally named Fagons. Fagons was renamed Milford at the Restoration in May 1660 and burnt by accident at Leghorn on 7 July 1673.Colledge (2020), Section F (Fagons) and M (Milford)
Construction and specifications She was ordered on 10 March 1693 to be built at Woolwich Dockyard under the guidance of Master Shipwright Joseph Lawrence. Less than a year later, she was launched on 15 February 1694. Her dimensions were a gun deck of with a keel of for tonnage calculation, a breadth of , and a depth of hold of . Her builder's measure tonnage was calculated as 374 tons (burthen).Winfred 2009, Ch 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Fifth Rates of 32 and 36 guns, 1693 Programme, Scarborough
The gun armament initially was four demi-culverinsLavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, culverins, page 101A demi-culverin was a gun of 3,400 pounds with a four-inch bore firing a 9.5-pound shot with an eight-pound powder charge on the lower deck (LD) with two pair of guns per side. The upper deck (UD) battery consisted of between twenty and twenty-two sakersLavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, Sakers, pages 102-103A sacar or saker was a gun of 1,400 pounds with a 3.5-inch bore firing a 5.5-pound shot with a 5.5-pound powder charge., with ten or eleven guns per side. The gun battery was completed by four to six minionsLavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, Minion, page 103A minion was a gun of 1,000 pounds with a 3.5-inch bore firing a 4-pound shot with a 4-pound powder charge. guns on the quarterdeck (QD) with two to three guns per side.Winfred 2009, Ch 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Fifth Rates of 32 and 36 guns, 1693 Programme
Commissioned service Service 1694 She was commissioned under the command of Captain Thomas Killingworth for service in the Irish Channel. She was taken by the French privateers, the 36-gun Le Comte de Revel and the 22-gun L'Etoille off Tory Island, Northern Ireland on 18 July 1694.Clowes (1898), Chapter XXIV, page 480 32 of the crew were killed, including Captain Killingworth, and 10 were wounded. She was incorporated into the privateer squadron and renamed Le Duc de Chaulnes. A few years later, she was recaptured on 15 September 1697 by HMS Plymouth and HMS Rye, then renamed HMS Milford. She was recommissioned in 1700 under Captain William Moses for service on the coast of Africa. In 1701, she was attending on the King of Holland. In 1702, she was under Captain John Anderson. On 12 March 1703, she was assigned Captain Edward Windsor for service in the West Indies. Upon her return, she was ordered to be rebuilt at Deptford in 1705.
Rebuild at Deptford Dockyard 1705 She was ordered to be rebuilt at Deptford Dockyard under the guidance of Master Shipwright Joseph Allin. She was launched andcompleted in December 1705. Her dimensions were a gundeck of , with a keel of for tonnage calculation, a breadth of , and a depth of hold of . Her builder's measure tonnage was calculated as 420 tons (burthen).Winfred 2009, Ch 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Milford Group, Milford Her armament was 36 guns wartime and 30 guns peacetime, consisting of eight/six 12-pounder guns on the lower deck (LD), twenty-two/twenty 6-pounder guns on the upper deck (UD), and six/four 6-pounder guns on the quarterdeck (QD).Winfred 2009, Ch 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Milford Group
Service 1705-1720 She was commissioned in December 1705 under the command of Captain Philip Stanhope. She was off Ostend in June 1706 with Vice-Admiral Sir Stafford Fairborne to co-operate with the army in the siege of the town. The ships bombarded the town during the landing of troops, and Ostend capitulated on 25 June.Clowes (1898), Chapter XXIV, pages 509-510 In conjunction with HMS Fowey, Milford drove ashore and burnt the 60-gun Content, then took the French 42-gun Le MercureClowes (1898), Chapter XXIV, page 510 on 8 January 1707. In March, she was escorting HMS Resolution conveying the Earl of Peterborough to Italy. The small convoy was spotted by a group of French ships. The Earl transferred to Enterprise and escaped to Leghorn along with Milford, while Resolution went ashore and was burnt to avoid capture.Clowes (1898), Chapter XXIV, pages 515-516
Milford was in action at Minorca, where Captain Stanhope was killed on 17 September 1708. She came under the command of Captain John Goodhall until 1715, serving with Whittaker's Squadron in the winter of 1708/09 and remaining in the Mediterranean during 1709. She sailed with a Newfoundland convoy, then went back to the Mediterranean in 1711/12. She returned to Home Waters in 1715 and underwent a small repair at Woolwich, costing 1,099.11.9dA total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £ in today's money between September 1715 and February 1716. She was commissioned in 1718 under Captain Peter Chamberlain for service in Jamaica.
Loss She was wrecked on Cape Corrientes in Cuba on 18 June 1720. She lost most of her crew, including Captain Chamberlain.
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Citations
References
Winfield (2009), British Warships in the Age of Sail (1603 – 1714), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, EPUB Winfield (2007), British Warships in the Age of Sail (1714 – 1792), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2007, EPUB Colledge (2020), 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, EPUB Lavery (1989), The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War 1600 – 1815, by Brian Lavery, published by US Naval Institute Press © Brian Lavery 1989, , Part V Guns, Type of Guns Clowes (1898), The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to the Present (Vol. II). London. England: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, © 1898