HMS Weymouth (1804)

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

History
Great Britain
NameWellesley
NamesakeArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
OwnerLambert & Co.[1]
BuilderHugh Edwards, Jonathan Gillett, & Michael Larkins, Calcutta[1]
Launched7 June 1796[1]
FateSold 1804
United Kingdom
NameHMS Weymouth
AcquiredMay 1804
Reclassified
FateSold on 2 July 1865
General characteristics [2]
Class and type44-gun fifth rate
Tons burthen826 bm
Length
  • 136 ft (41.5 m) (overall)
  • 121 ft (36.9 m) (keel)
Beam37 ft (11.3 m)
Depth of hold12 ft 4 in (3.8 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement
  • Merchantman: 80[3]
  • Storeship: 121
Armament
  • Merchantman: 22 × 6- & 9-pounder guns;[3] 12 × 9-pounder + 10 × 6-pounder guns[4]
  • 44-gun ship:
  • Lower deck: 26 × 18-pounder guns
  • Upper deck: 18 × 24-pounder carronades
  • Storeship
  • Lower deck: 10 × 24-pounder carronades
  • QD: 4 × 24-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns

HMS Weymouth was a 44-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy. She was previously the merchantman Wellesley, built in Calcutta in 1796. She successfully defended herself against a French frigate, and made two voyages to Britain as an East Indiaman for the East India Company. The Admiralty purchased her in May 1804; she then became a storeship in 1806. On her last voyage for the Royal Navy, in 1820, she carried settlers to South Africa. She was then laid up in ordinary. In 1828, she was converted to a prison ship and sailed to Bermuda where she served as a prison hulk until 1865 when she was sold for breaking up.

  1. ^ a b c Hackman (2001), pp. 245–6.
  2. ^ Winfield (2008), p. 131.
  3. ^ a b Letter of Marque, 1793–1815, p.52 Archived 9 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine;
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference LL01 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).