HMS Royal George (1756)

HMS Royal George (right) shown fictitiously as already afloat during the launch of HMS Cambridge in 1755. Painted by John Cleveley the Elder in 1757
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Royal George
Ordered	29 August 1746
Builder	Woolwich Dockyard
Laid down	8 January 1747[inconsistent]
Launched	18 February 1756
Commissioned	October 1755 (before launch)
Fate	Foundered, 29 August 1782, at Spithead
Notes	Participated in: Battle of Quiberon Bay Battle of Cape St Vincent
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	1745 Establishment 100-gun first-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	2047 bm
Length	178 ft (54.3 m) (gundeck) 143 ft 5.5 in (43.7 m) (keel)
Beam	51 ft 9.5 in (15.8 m)
Depth of hold	21 ft 6 in (6.6 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	100 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 42 pdrs Middle gundeck: 28 × 24 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 12 pdrs Quarterdeck: 12 × 6 pdrs Forecastle: 4 × 6 pdrs

HMS Royal George was a ship of the line of the Royal Navy. A first-rate with 100 guns on three decks, she was the largest warship in the world at the time of her launch on 18 February 1756. Construction at Woolwich Dockyard had taken ten years.

The ship saw immediate service during the Seven Years' War, including the Raid on Rochefort in 1757. She was Admiral Sir Edward Hawke's flagship at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759. The ship was laid up following the conclusion of the war in 1763, but was reactivated in 1777 for the American Revolutionary War. She then served as Rear Admiral Robert Digby's flagship at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1780.

Royal George sank on 29 August 1782 whilst anchored at Spithead off Portsmouth. The ship was intentionally rolled (a parliamentary heel) so maintenance could be performed on the hull, but the roll became unstable and out of control; the ship took on water and sank. More than 800 people died, making it one of the most deadly maritime disasters in British territorial waters.

Several attempts were made to raise the vessel, both for salvage and because she was a major hazard to navigation in the Solent. In 1782, Charles Spalding recovered fifteen 12-pounder guns using a diving bell of his own design. From 1834 to 1836, Charles and John Deane recovered more guns using a diving helmet they had invented. In 1839 Charles Pasley of the Royal Engineers commenced operations to break up the wreck using barrels of gunpowder. Pasley's team recovered more guns and other items between 1839 and 1842. In 1840, they destroyed the remaining structure of the wreck in an explosion which shattered windows several miles away in Portsmouth and Gosport.