HMS Southsea Castle was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by John Knowler of Redbridge (Southampton) in 1695/96.
She was the first vessel to bear the name Southsea Castle in the English and Royal Navy.Colledge (2020)
Construction and specifications She was ordered on 3 May 1695 to be built under contract by John Knowler of Redbridge (Southampton). She was launched on 1 August 1696. Her dimensions were a gundeck of with a keel of for tonnage calculation with a breadth of and a depth of hold of . Her builder's measure tonnage was calculated as 373 tons (burthen).Winfred 2009, Ch 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Fifth Rates of 32 and 36 guns, 1694 Programme, Southsea Castle
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 would consist of between twenty and twenty-two 6-pounder gunsLavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, The 6-pounder, page 102A 6-pounder was a Dutch gun used to replace the saker with ten or eleven guns per side. The gun battery would be completed by four 4-pounder gunsLavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, Minion or 4-pounder, page 103A minion renamed the 4-pounder was a gun of 1,000 pounds with a 3.5-inch bore firing a 4-pound shot with a 4-pound powder charge. 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, 1694 Programme
Commissioned Service 1696-1697 She was commissioned in 1696 under the command of Captain Samuel Whitaker. In 1697 she was under Commander Thomas Legge to sail with a Virginia bound convoy.
Loss She was wrecked on the Dove Sands off Hoylake (Wirral) on 15 September 1697.
Notes
Citations
References
Winfield (2009), British Warships in the Age of Sail (1603 – 1714), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, 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