HMS Enterprise (sometimes spelled Enterprize) was a 24-gun sixth-rate (named Enterprise[1] or L'Entreprenante[2]) of the French Navy captured by HMS Triton (also spelt as Tryton[3]) on 7 May 1705.[4] She was registered as a Royal Navy ship on 1 June 1705 and commissioned shortly afterwards. She served in the Mediterranean and with Admiral Byng's squadron at the Downs, She was wrecked in 1707 with the loss of all hands.[5]
Enterprise was the first named vessel in the Royal Navy.[6]
Specifications
She was captured on 2 May and registered as a Royal Naval vessel on 1 June 1705. Her gundeck was 93 feet 0 inches (28.3 metres) with her keel for tonnage calculation of 79 feet 9 inches (24.3 metres). Her breadth for tonnage was 27 feet 6 inches (8.4 metres). Her tonnage calculation was 320+75⁄94 tons. Her armament was twenty 6-pounders on the upper deck with and four 4-pounders on the quarterdeck all on wooden trucks.[7]
Commissioned Service
She was commissioned in 1705 under the command of Commander John Paul, RN for service in the Mediterranean then was assigned to Admiral Byng's squadron for the winter of 1706/07 in the Downs. On 17 May 1707 Commander William Davenport assumed command.[8][9]
Loss
She was wrecked off Thornton, Lancashire (near Blackpool) with the loss of all hands on 12 October 1707.[10]
Lyon, The Sailing Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy, Built, Purchased and Captured, 1688–1860, by David Lyon, published by Conway Maritime Press, 1993, ISBN978-0-85177-617-0, Enterprise, page 192
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