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2 - The Great European Fleets(Part 2)
The First Royal Navy Enterprises
Upon her capture by the British in 1705, the French l'Entreprise became
the first HMS Enterprise. The Enterprise and her crew served
in the Mediterranean during 1705 and 1706 under command of J. Paul. On May 19
and 20, 1707, her new captain, W. Davenport, commanded her in action near
Leghorn, Italy. She was wrecked off Thornton, England on October 12, 1707.
Following common practice at the time, the Enterprise was classified as a
"6th rate." The rating system was originally devised by France's Jean-Baptiste
Colbert in 1674. It was a method of classifying naval ships according to the number
of guns they carried. Although the exact rate classifications changed somewhat over
the years, 1st rates generally had more than 100 guns, 2nd rates 85 to 100 guns, 3rd
rates 70 to 85 guns, 4th rates 50 to 70 guns, 5th rates 35 to 50 guns, and 6th rates
less than 35 guns. Vessels of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rate were considered "ships of the
line" and were used in fleet combat maneuvers. Vessels of 4th, 5th, and 6th rate
were used for support missions and usually acted alone on combat missions. The
term "frigate" was sometimes applied to these smaller vessels.
For most of the 18th Century, a series of wars arose involving Britain, France, and
Spain; many for control of territory in the Americas. These conflicts resulted in
naval battles in European waters, off the Atlantic coast of America, and in the
nearby Caribbean Sea. During this period, the Royal Navy had four additional ships
which sailed as the HMS Enterprise.
The second British Enterprise was commissioned at Plymouth, England on
April 28, 1709 as a 5th rate of 40 guns. Under command of Nicholas Smith, she
patrolled off the coast of Virginia from 1709 to 1712. She then returned to England,
and sailed in home waters until 1720. After another patrol off the Virginia coast,
from 1721 to 1724, the Enterprise again returned to British home waters.
She was stationed in the English Channel from 1729 to 1731. The
Enterprise was renamed Liverpool on February 20, 1740, and
continued in service as a hospital ship until she was sold in 1749.
The next HMS Enterprise was an 8-gun sloop captured (possibly from
Spain) in 1743. Under command of T. Henning, she took part in attacks on the
French port of Toulon on February 11, 1744, and continued to serve in the
Mediterranean as a despatch vessel and tender during her entire career.
This Enterprise was sold in
1748.
In 1693, the Royal Navy commissioned the Norwich, a 50-gun 4th rate.
The Norwich was renamed on May 23, 1744, to become the fourth
HMS Enterprise. The Enterprise was reduced to a 5th rate of
44 guns and, under command of C. Holmes, she set sail for Jamaica
and patrolled the Caribbean until the end of the War of Spanish Succession in
1748. She was placed in reserve status until 1756. In June 1757 she sailed for Nova
Scotia and patrolled off the Canadian coast until July 1758, when she again headed
south to Jamaica, now under command of Alexander Innes. The
Enterprise returned to England in 1761, and in January 1762 sailed again
for North America. Between June 6 and August 13, 1763, the Enterprise,
under command of J. Honeton, participated in military action off the Spanish port
of Havana, Cuba. She was decommissioned in January 1764 and was broken up in
1771.
Escape at Gibraltar
The last HMS Enterprise to sail before the end of the American
Revolutionary War was a 28-gun 6th rate built at Deptford, England as the
lead ship of a class of 27 6th rate frigates and
commissioned in April 1775. Under command of Sir T. Rich, she sailed for the
Mediterranean on July 16, 1775. A few years later, she participated in the siege of
Gibraltar, during one of the recurring conflicts between Britain and Spain for control
of this strategic point of land at the southern tip of Spain.
On June 7, 1780, the Enterprise, now under command of Captain Patrick
Leslie, was at anchor in the Bay of Gibraltar with other ships of the British fleet.
At about 1:30 a.m., the watch on the Enterprise saw some vessels drifting
toward the harbor. When they came within hailing distance, the seaman on watch
called a challenge. Almost immediately, the six drifting vessels were set afire by their
crews, who made their escape in small boats. The flaming hulks continued to drift
closer and closer to the Enterprise and the other British ships. Captain
Leslie fired a three gun salvo to warn the other ships, cut his anchor lines to let the
Enterprise drift inshore away from the hulks, and then opened fire on the
hulks in an attempt to sink them. With the Spanish fleet waiting just outside the
harbor for any British ships trying to escape, the British seamen took to small
boats and, at great peril to their lives, boarded the flaming hulks to attach lines to
pull the hulks far enough away from their own ships so that the hulks could burn
themselves out.
After this heroic action by the crew of the Enterprise and continued
service in the Mediterranean, she sailed on April 27, 1782, for the Leeward Islands
in the Caribbean, where she proceeded to capture the privateer vessel
Mohawk. From 1790 until she was broken up in August 1807, the
Enterprise was stationed at the Tower of London as a receiving ship
for impressed men and monitoring the arrival of foreign vessels.
Almost simultaneously with the launching of this gallant lady named
Enterprise in 1775, the Royal Navy was beginning a losing battle to hold
onto its colonies in the New World. Ironically, another vessel named
Enterprise would play a big role in the final outcome.
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| Intro
| Dedication
| Foreword
| Preface
| Spanish Armada
| European Fleets
| Independence
| Copyright ©
1996-2008 Arnold E.
van Beverhoudt, Jr.
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