HMS Newcastle (1653)

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

Newcastle was a 44-gun fourth-rate frigate of the English Royal Navy, originally built for the Commonwealth of England by Phineas Pett the Younger at Ratcliffe, and launched in May 1653. By 1677 her armament had been increased to 54 guns.^[1]

Sketch of HMS Newcastle by Willem van de Velde, circa 1678

Portrait of HMS Newcastle by Willem van de Velde, 1676
History
England
Name	Newcastle
Namesake	Siege of Newcastle
Ordered	17 February 1652
Builder	Phineas Pett II, Ratcliffe
Launched	May 1653
Fate	Wrecked, 1703
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Fourth-rate frigate
Tons burthen	631
Length	108 ft (32.9 m) (keel)
Beam	33 ft 1 in (10.1 m)
Depth of hold	13 ft 2 in (4.0 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	44 guns (1660); 54 guns (1677)

Her first action came in 1655 when, along with fourteen other warships, she sailed into Porto Farina in Algiers to engage Barbary Pirates. This action resulted in the destruction of the entire pirate fleet, which won the Newcastle lineage its first battle honour. In 1657 she took part in Admiral Blake's daring attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and in 1665, she fought at the Battle of Lowestoft.

On 14 March 1674,^[2] Newcastle, under the command of Sir John Wetwang, captured the Dutch East India ship Wapen van Rotterdam in the Battle of Ronas Voe.^[3]

Prior to the November 1688 Glorious Revolution, George Churchill assumed command and Newcastle was assigned to the Channel. Shortly before Plymouth declared for William III on 18 November, Churchill entered the port for repairs but this appears to have been an excuse; Newcastle was the first significant naval defection and the rest of the fleet soon followed.^[4]

Newcastle was wrecked at Spithead in the Great Storm of 1703 with the loss of 229 of her crew.^[1][5]

Notes

1. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p160.
2. "Londen den 3 April" [London on 3 April]. Engelandt. Amsterdamsche Courant (in Dutch). No. 15. 10 April 1674. p. 1. Retrieved 23 March 2019 – via Delpher.
3. Bruce, R. Stuart (1914). Johnston, Alfred W.; Johnston, Amy (eds.). "Part III - Replies - Naval Engagement, Rønis Vo, Shetland" (PDF). Old-Lore Miscellany of Orkney Shetland Caithness and Sutherland. VII (Old-Lore Series Vol. VIII). London: Viking Society for Northern Research: 101–103 – via Viking Society Web Publications.
4. Webb, Stephen Saunder (1995). Lord Churchill's Coup: The Anglo-American Empire and the Glorious Revolution Reconsidered. Alfred a Knopf Inc. p. 343. ISBN 978-0394549804.
5. Larn, Richard (1977). Goodwin Sands Shipwrecks. Newton Abbot, London, North Pomfret: David & Charles. p. 57. ISBN 0-7153-7202-5.

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.
• Winfield, Rif (2009) British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing, ISBN 978-1-84832-040-6.