HMS Burford (1679)

HMS Burford was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1679 as part of the Thirty Ships Programme of 1677.[3] She fought in the War of English Succession, including the Battle of Barfleur, before being rebuilt at Deptford in 1699, remaining as a 70-gun third rate.[4] During the War of Spanish Succession she was mostly in the Mediterranean fleet and fought at the capture of Gibraltar and the Battle of Málaga in 1704 before being extensively repaired between 1710 and 1712 at Portsmouth Dockyard. Burford served in the Baltic in 1715 and 1717 before returning to the Mediterranean to fight the Spanish at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718. She was wrecked on the Italian coast in a storm on 14 February 1719.[4]

History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Burford
Ordered:	April 1677
Builder:	Phineas Pett (completed by Thomas Shish), Woolwich Dockyard
Launched:	November 1679
Commissioned:	15 December 1679
In service:	1679-1719
Fate:	Wrecked, 14 February 1719
General characteristics as built[1]
Class and type:	70-gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1,051​^32⁄94 (bm)
Length:	152 ft 4 in (46.4 m) (gun deck) 121 ft 6 in (37.0 m) (keel)
Beam:	40 ft 4 in (12.3 m)
Draught:	18 ft 0 in (5.5 m)
Depth of hold:	17 ft 3 in (5.3 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Armament:	70 (war) 62 (peace) as built Lower Deck: 26 demi-cannon Upper Deck: 26 x 12-pounder Quarterdeck: 10 sakers Forecastle: 4 sakers Roundhouse: 4 x 3-pounder
General characteristics after 1699 rebuild[2]
Class and type:	70-gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1,113​^25⁄94 (bm)
Length:	152 ft 9 in (46.6 m) (gun deck) 126 ft 2 in (38.5 m) (keel)
Beam:	40 ft 8 ^3⁄4 in (12.4 m)
Depth of hold:	16 ft 4 ^1⁄4 in (5.0 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Armament:	70 (war) 62 (peace) (by 1703 Gun Establishment) Lower Deck: 24/22 x 24-pounder Upper Deck: 26/24 x 9-pounder Quarterdeck: 12/10 x 6-pounder Forecastle: 4/2 x 6-pounder Roundhouse: 4 x 4-pounder

Design and construction

Burford was one of the third rates of the Thirty Ships Programme voted by Parliament on 16 April 1677.[5] She was named after the nine year old Earl of Burford, the illegitimate son of King Charles II and Nell Gwynne.[6] Ordered from the Woolwich Dockyard in 1677 as one of the twelve third rates of the programme that were built in the Royal Dockyards, she was initially constructed by Master Shipwright Phineas Pett, then completed by Thomas Shish from February 1678. After her launch in November 1679 she was commissioned on 15 December 1679 by Captain John Perryman.[1]

Service history up to rebuild

Burford's first commission was very brief and from February 1680 she was laid up in ordinary for nine years in the general neglect of the fleet during the 1680s. On the outbreak of war with the French she was recommissioned in 1689 by Captain Charles Skelton. She served throughout the War of English Succession, firstly under Skelton, then Captain Thomas Harlow who commanded her when she fought at the battle of Barfleur in the Red Squadron on 24 May 1692.[7] Her final captain was Richard Kirkpatrick when at the Île de Groix on 3 July 1697.[1]

Rebuilding in 1699

Like most of her sister third rates of the Thirty Ship Programme Burford was rebuilt in the peace between the War of English Succession and the War of Spanish Succession. Her rebuild was ordered in June 1697 and was carried out by Edward Snelgrove at Deptford. She was docked on 1 November 1697 and relaunched on 12 September 1698. After the rebuild she was 5 inches longer on the gun deck, nearly 5 inches broader in the beam and 11 inches less in her hold depth, for an increase in burthen of nearly 62 tons, or 5.9%. Her first commission after rebuilding was as the guard ship at Sheerness in 1700 under Captain Simon Foulkes.[2]

Service history post rebuild

At the start of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1702 Burford was at the unsuccessful Battle of Cadiz with Admiral George Rooke and commanded by Captain Hovenden Walker.[8] Under the command of Captain Kerryl Roffey she was at Gibraltar on 23 July 1704, again with Rooke.[9] She fought at the Battle of Málaga on 13 August 1704 in the centre division, losing 11 men killed and having 19 men wounded.[10] Most of the war was spent in the Mediterranean until in October 1712 she was docked for Great Repair at Portsmouth Dockyard until May 1714 at a cost of nearly £12,500. After the war she served in the Baltic under Admiral John Norris in 1715 and Admiral George Byng in 1717. She was present at the Battle of Cape Passaro against the Spanish on 11 August 1718, commanded by Captain Charles Vanburgh.[2]

Fate

Burford was wrecked in a storm in Pantemelia Bay in Italy on 14 February 1719, though her crew was saved.[2]

Battle Honours

The first Burford won four battle honours: BARFLEUR 1692; GIBRALTAR 1704; VELEZ MALAGA 1704; and PASSERO 1718.[11]

Notes

1. Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail, vol. 1, p. 63.
2. Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail, vol. 1, pp. 76-77.
3. Lavery, The Ship of the Line vol 1, p. 162.
4. Lavery, The Ship of the Line vol 1, p. 166.
5. Lavery, The Ship of the Line vol 1, p. 45.
6. Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail, vol. 1, p. 62.
7. Clowes, The Royal Navy, a History, vol 2, p. 349
8. Clowes, The Royal Navy, a History, vol 2, p. 380
9. Clowes, The Royal Navy, a History, vol 2, p. 393
10. Clowes, The Royal Navy, a History, vol 2, p. 399
11. Warlow, Battle Honours of the Royal Navy, p. 83

References

• Clowes, William Laird (1898) The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to the Present, vol. 2. Sampson Low, Marston and Co.
• 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.
• Winfield, Rif (2009) British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-040-6.
• Warlow, Ben (2004) Battle Honours of the Royal Navy. Maritime Books. ISBN 978-1-90445-905-7.