HMS America (1757)

America
History
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
NameHMS America
Ordered24 November 1755
BuilderWells & Stanton, Rotherhithe
Laid downDecember 1755
Launched21 May 1757
CommissionedApril 1757
DecommissionedAugust 1764
Honours and
awards
Battle of Lagos, 1759
FateBroken up at Plymouth Dockyard, 1771
General characteristics
Class and type60-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen12484794 (bm)
Length
  • 154 ft 0 in (46.94 m) (gundeck)
  • 127 ft 5 in (38.84 m) (keel)
Beam42 ft 11 in (13.08 m)
Depth of hold18 ft 9 in (5.72 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • 60 guns:
  • Gundeck: 24 × 24-pounders
  • Upper gundeck: 26 × 12-pounders
  • Quarterdeck: 8 × 6-pounders
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6-pounders

HMS America was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built for service during the Seven Years' War against France and Spain. Commissioned in 1757, America was assigned to the British fleets blockading French ports in the Atlantic and Mediterranean and played an active role in the Battle of Lagos in 1759. After a refit in 1760, she was sailed to the East Indies for combat against Spanish forces in the Philippines. America was returned to England at the end of the war, and was broken up in 1771.[1][2]

  1. ^ Winfield 2007, p. 132
  2. ^ Rankin, Stuart (2004). Maritime Rotherhithe – History Walk – Walk B: Shipyards, Granaries and Wharves. Archived 29 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine p22. Southwark Council.