HMS Boscawen (1844)

HMS Boscawan was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 3 April 1844 at Woolwich Dockyard. She was originally ordered and begun as a 74-gun ship, but an Admiralty order dated 3 March 1834 required that she be reworked to Sir William Symonds' design.[1] She was named for Admiral Edward Boscawen.

HMS Boscawen, 1904
History
UK
Name:	HMS Boscawen
Ordered:	11 May 1817
Builder:	Woolwich Dockyard
Laid down:	January 1826
Launched:	3 April 1844
Renamed:	Wellesley 1873
Fate:	Burned and sank 11 March 1914 Broken up 1914
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:	70-gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	2048 tons (2080.9 tonnes)
Length:	187 ft 4 ^1⁄2 in (57.1 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	50 ft 9 in (15.47 m)
Depth of hold:	21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Armament:	70 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 68 pdr carronades Upper gundeck: 32 × 24 pdrs Quarterdeck: 4 × 24 pdrs, 10 × 32 pdr carronades Forecastle: 2 × 24 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades

In 1873, Boscawen replaced Wellesley – the former HMS Cornwall – as the training ship at Wellesley Nautical School and was herself renamed Wellesley.[2]

On the afternoon of 11 March 1914, Wellesley was destroyed by fire and sank at her moorings on the River Tyne at North Shields. A total loss, she was broken up later in 1914.[1][2]

Notes

1. Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 192.
2. Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums: The Training Ship “Wellesley” at North Shields 1868-1914

References

• Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.

External links

• British Pathe video of Wellesley (ex-Boscawen) burning on 11 March 1914

Wellesley burning at her moorings in the River Tyne at North Shields on the afternoon of 11 March 1914, photographed from South Shields.

The wreck of Wellesley in 1914.