The Fishery by Woollett after Wright
History
Great Britain
NameNeptune
Ordered12 July 1750
BuilderPortsmouth Dockyard
Launched17 July 1757
FateBroken up, 1816
General characteristics [1]
Class and type1750 amendments 90-gun second rate ship of the line
Tons burthen1798
Length171 ft (52.1 m) (gundeck)
Beam48 ft 6 in (14.8 m)
Depth of hold20 ft 6 in (6.2 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • 90 guns:
  • Gundeck: 26 × 32 pdrs
  • Middle gundeck: 26 × 18 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 26 × 12 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 10 × 6 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6 pdrs

HMS Neptune was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Portsmouth Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1750, and launched on 17 July 1757.[1]

Neptune was the flagship for Vice-Admiral Charles Knowles in 1757.[2] One of Neptune's midshipmen at this time was John Hunter, later to become an admiral and the second Governor of New South Wales.[2]

The Whisker's. Or Sr Jn Suckling's Bugga Boh's, a 1757 caricature ridiculing John Mordaunt on the Neptune and the aborted raid on Rochefort in September 1757

Neptune was converted to serve as a sheer hulk in 1784, and continued in this role until she was broken up in 1816.[1]

The original version of The Fishery by Richard Wright

Neptune has been identified as the subject of a 1764 prize-winning painting by Liverpool marine artist Richard Wright, subsequently engraved by William Woollett entitled The Fishery.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p174.
  2. ^ a b Auchmuty, J.J. (1966). "Hunter, John (1737–1821)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  3. ^ "Background information". Walker Art Gallery. Retrieved 25 June 2015.

References

  • Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.


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