HMS Terrible (1762)

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

HMS Terrible was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by John Barnard and launched on 4 September 1762 at King's Yard in Harwich, as a sister ship to HMS Arrogant.^[1]

Terrible
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Terrible
Ordered	8 January 1761
Builder	John Barnard, Harwich Dockyard
Launched	4 September 1762
Fate	Burned, 1781
Notes	Participated in: First Battle of Ushant Battle of Cape St Vincent Battle of the Chesapeake
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Ramillies-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1644
Length	168 ft 6 in (51.36 m) (gundeck)
Beam	46 ft 11 in (14.30 m)
Depth of hold	19 ft 9 in (6.02 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs

In the English Channel, on 15 April 1777, under Captain Richard Bickerton, she took an American privateer brig called the Rising States, Capt Thompson.^[2][3]

In 1778 she fought at the First Battle of Ushant, and in 1781 Terrible (Capt. Finch) was part of Sir Thomas Graves' fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake. During the course of the battle, she took heavy damage, and was scuttled, or deliberately sunk, after the battle had ended.^[4]

Notable Commanders

• Mariot Arbuthnot 1770 to 1773
• Sir Richard Bickerton, 1st Baronet 1776 to 1779
• John Leigh Douglas 1779 to 1780
• John Thomas Duckworth 1780 to 1781
• Henry Edwyn Stanhope 1781

Notes

1. Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 177.
2. Log of Captain Richard Bickerton, HMS Terrible, 15 and 16 April 1777. Primary source transcribed on blog site http://paulinespiratesandprivateers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/history-aboard-terrible.html accessed 6 Dec 2015
3. "Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
4. Larrabee, Harold A. (1964). Decision at the Chesapeake. New York: Clarkson N. Potter. pp. 220–222. OCLC 426234.

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.