Battle of Trincomalee
History
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
NameHMS Superb
Ordered28 December 1757
BuilderDeptford Dockyard
Laid down12 April 1758
Launched27 October 1760
CommissionedNovember 1760
FateSank, 1783
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeBellona-class ship of the line
Tons burthen1,61214⁄94 (bm)
Length
  • 168 ft (51 m) (gundeck)
  • 137 ft 11.25 in (42.0434 m) (keel)
Beam46 ft 10.5 in (14.288 m)
Draught21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Depth of hold19 ft 9 in (6.02 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • 74 guns:
  • Lower gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs

HMS Superb was a 74-gun Bellona-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, designed by Sir Thomas Slade and built by Adam Hayes at Deptford Dockyard, launched on 27 October 1760 as a sister ship to HMS Dragon.[1]

Service history

In June 1762 during the Seven Years' War Superb and two other ships saved a convoy from a French squadron commanded by Commodore de Ternay.[2]

In 1764 she carried troops to North America as part of the ongoing colonial conflict.

In January 1768 she hit a rock in Cork harbour off the coast of Ireland and had to return to Portsmouth for repair.

She sailed to the East Indies and in December 1780 she destroyed shipping at Mangalore. On 17 February 1782 she was part of the Battle of Sadras and on 12 April was in the Battle of Providien. On 6 July 1782 she was in the Second Battle of Negapatam and on the 3 September the Battle of Trincomalee.

The Superb was Admiral Edward Hughes's flagship in India in 1782 during a notable series of engagements with the French under Suffren.

On 20 June 1783 the Superb took part in the Battle of Cuddalore before returning to Bombay for copper sheathing along her hull. On 7 November she developed a severe leak through the sheathing into the bilge, and sank in Tellicherry Roads off the Bombay coast, with the loss of her commander, Captain Dunbar Maclellan and her crew of 550 men.[3][4]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p176.
  2. ↑ Winfield 2007, p.329
  3. ↑ Winfield 2007, p.63
  4. ↑ "The Navy Day by Day", 5 November

References

  • Lavery, Brian (2003). The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0851772528.
  • Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792. London: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 9781844157006.


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