HMS Ruby (1708)

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

History
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
NameHMS Ruby
BuilderAllin, Deptford Dockyard
Launched25 March 1708
RenamedHMS Mermaid, 1744
FateSold, 1748
General characteristics [1]
Class and type1706 Establishment 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen707 bm
Length130 ft (39.6 m) (gundeck)
Beam35 ft (10.7 m)
Depth of hold14 ft (4.3 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • 50 guns:
  • Gundeck: 22 × 18-pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 22 × 9-pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 4 × 6-pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6-pdrs

HMS Ruby was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Joseph Allin the elder at Deptford Dockyard to the 1706 Establishment, and launched on 25 March 1708.[1]

She achieved an unwelcome notoriety in March 1741 when her captain, Samuel Goodere, was convicted of murder at Bristol and subsequently hanged; he had enticed his elder brother, Sir John Dineley Goodere, 2nd Baronet, on board, and had caused him to be strangled in the purser's cabin.[2]

Ruby was renamed HMS Mermaid in 1744, and was sold out of the service in 1748.[1]

  1. ^ a b c Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p168.
  2. ^ Emlyn, Sollom, ed., Complete Collection of State Trials (1742) vol. VI p. 797 et seqq.; online (PDF) here