HMS Bristol (1775)

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

Model of the Thomson Collection of Ship Models on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario
History
Great Britain
NameBristol
NamesakeBristol
Ordered12 October 1768
BuilderSheerness Dockyard
Laid downMay 1771
Launched25 October 1775
CommissionedOctober 1775
Out of service1786
FateScrapped, June 1810
General characteristics
Class and typePortland-class ship of the line
Tons burthen1,049 9⁄94 bm
Length146 ft (44.5 m) (Gundeck)
Beam40 ft 7 in (12.4 m)
Draught15 ft 7 in (4.7 m)
Depth of hold17 ft 6 in (5.3 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • 50 guns:
  • Gundeck: 22 × 24-pdr cannon
  • Upper gundeck: 22 × 12-pdr cannon
  • Quarterdeck: 4 × 6-pdr cannon
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6-pdr cannon

HMS Bristol was a 50-gun Portland-class fourth-rate ship of the line, built for the Royal Navy in the 1770s. She served as a flagship during the Battle of Sullivan's Island, Charleston, South Carolina in 1776 during the American Revolutionary War and later participated in the 1783 Battle of Cuddalore during the Anglo-French War of 1778–83. By 1787 the ship had been converted into a church ship. Converted into a prison ship in 1794, Bristol instead served as a hospital ship until she was broken up in 1810.