HMS Jamaica (1744)

Summary

HMS Jamaica was a 10-gun (14-gun from 1749) two-masted Hind-class sloop of the Royal Navy, designed by Joseph Allin and built by him at Deptford Dockyard on the Thames River, England and launched on 17 July 1744. She and her sister Trial were the only sloops to be built in the Royal Dockyards between 1733 and 1748.

History
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
NameHMS Jamaica
Ordered18 August 1743
BuilderDeptford Dockyard
Laid down15 September 1743
Launched17 July 1744
Completed28 August 1744 at Deptford Dockyard
CommissionedJuly 1744
FateWrecked off Cuba on 27 January 1770
General characteristics
Class and typeHind-class sloop
Tons burthen272 8994 (bm)
Length
  • 91 ft 5 in (27.9 m) (gundeck)
  • 75 ft 0.75 in (22.9 m) (keel)
Beam26 ft 1.75 in (8.0 m)
Depth of hold12 ft 0 in (3.7 m)
Sail planSnow brig
Armament10 × 6-pounder guns, later increased in 1749 to 14 x 6-pounder guns

On 28 October 1757 captured St. Estienne in company with the frigate Garland.[1]

Fate edit

Commander George Talbot and Jamaica were sailing from Jamaica to Pensacola when she was wrecked off Cuba on 27 January 1770. Towards evening she ran onto a reef. Efforts to lighten her and get her off failed and she started to fill with water. The crew improvised rafts and with her boats were able over the next three days to transfer all her stores and provisions to a small cay three miles away. At the same time a small boat was sent to get help. A schooner eventually rescued the survivors. The subsequent court martial of Talbot his officers, and crew found that a strong current had taken her further inshore than expected, resulting in her encountering the Coleradoes Reef.[2]

Citations edit

  1. ^ "No. 9810". The London Gazette. 18 July 1758. p. 3.
  2. ^ Hepper (1994), p. 47.

References edit