HMS Rochester (1749)

HMS Rochester was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard and launched on 3 August 1749.[1]

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

Drawing showing the body plans, stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for the Rochester
History
Great Britain
Name: HMS Rochester
Ordered: 8 March 1747
Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Launched: 3 August 1749
Fate: Sold, 1770
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1034 bm
Length: 146 ft (44.5 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 40 ft (12.2 m)
Depth of hold: 16 ft 10 in (5.1 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Armament:
  • 50 guns:
  • Gundeck: 22 × 24 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 22 × 12 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 4 × 6 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6 pdrs

In contrast to standard practise at the time, Rochester was not built to the Establishment of dimensions in effect at the time (in this case, the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment). Rochester and her sister-ship, Bristol, were 6 ft (1.8 m) longer than the Establishment specified, and were ordered as an experiment in building larger ships in response to the widening gulf between the sizes of British ships and their continental counterparts.[2]

Rochester was eventually sold out of the navy in 1770.[1]

Notes
  1. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p173.
  2. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p87.

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.


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