HMS Rochester (1749)

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

Drawing showing the body plans, stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for the Rochester
History
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
NameHMS Rochester
Ordered8 March 1747
BuilderDeptford Dockyard
Launched3 August 1749
FateSold, 1770
General characteristics [1]
Class and type50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen1034 bm
Length146 ft (44.5 m) (gundeck)
Beam40 ft (12.2 m)
Depth of hold16 ft 10 in (5.1 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • 50 guns:
  • Gundeck: 22 × 24 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 22 × 12 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 4 × 6 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6 pdrs

HMS Rochester was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard and launched on 3 August 1749.[1]

In contrast to standard practise at the time, Rochester was not built to the Establishment of dimensions in effect at the time (in this case, the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment). Rochester and her sister-ship, Bristol, were 6 ft (1.8 m) longer than the Establishment specified, and were ordered as an experiment in building larger ships in response to the widening gulf between the sizes of British ships and their continental counterparts.[2]

Rochester was eventually sold out of the navy in 1770.[1]

  1. ^ a b c Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p173.
  2. ^ Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p87.