HMS York (1807)

	HMS York in Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour at Fort Blockhouse with convicts going on board, by Edward William Cooke
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS York
Ordered	31 January 1805
Builder	Brent, Rotherhithe
Laid down	August 1805
Launched	7 July 1807
Fate	Broken up, 1854
Notes	Prison ship from 1819
General characteristics
Class and type	Fame-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1743 (bm)
Length	175 ft (53 m) (gundeck)
Beam	47 ft 6 in (14.48 m)
Depth of hold	20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns; Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns; QD: 4 × 12-pounder guns + 10 × 32-pounder carronades; Fc: 2 × 12-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades; Poop deck: 6 × 18-pounder carronades;

HMS York was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Rotherhithe by the contract firm Samuel & Daniel Brent, and launched on 7 July 1807.^[1] She saw service during the Napoleonic Wars, though is best known for her time spent as a prison ship.^{[citation needed]} She was broken up in March 1854.^[1]

Service history

HMS York was one of many British warships ordered after they were most needed. Although the major naval battles of the Napoleonic Wars had already occurred by the time of her launching, York was employed on some notable campaigns.

After her launch, York was under the command of Captain Robert Barton, and as part of Sir Samuel Hood's squadron, she participated in the occupation of Madeira.

In 1809, York was on the West India Station, and was involved in the capture of Martinique. In April a strong French squadron arrived at the Îles des Saintes, south of Guadeloupe. There they were blockaded until 14 April, when a British force under Major-General Frederick Maitland and Captain Philip Beaver in Acasta, invaded and captured the islands.^[2] York was among the naval vessels that shared in the proceeds of the capture of the islands.^{[Note 1]}

In July–August 1809 York was involved in the disastrous landings at Walcheren. York was later with the Mediterranean Squadron off Toulon.

On 17 December 1813 York captured Marie Antoinette.^{[Note 2]}

Fate

In 1819, York entered Portsmouth harbour, where she was stripped of her masts and guns, and converted into a prison ship. HMS York is best remembered in this state, thanks to a contemporary drawing by Edward William Cooke, which shows her fully converted, and with laundry above her decks where sails once would have been. She would have typically contained approximately 500 convicts.

After many years in this harbour service, she was broken up in March 1854.^[1]

Notes

^ The prize agent for a number of the vessels involved, Henry Abbott, went bankrupt. In May 1835 there was a final payment of a dividend from his estate. A first-class share was worth 10s 2¾d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 1d. Seventh-class (landsmen) and eighth-class (boys) shares were fractions of a penny, too small to pay.^[3]
^ A first-class share was worth £230 8s 2d; a sixth-class share was worth £1 10s 1½d.^[4]

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 188.
^ "No. 16262". The London Gazette. 30 May 1809. pp. 779–782.
^ "No. 19255". The London Gazette. 3 April 1835. p. 643.
^ "No. 16943". The London Gazette. 8 October 1814. p. 2009.

References

Prison ship York at Portsmouth Harbour. PortCities London. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
Andie Byrne, "HMS York, built in 1807 at Nelson Dock in Rotherhithe", 18 August 2013, A Rotherhithe Blog. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
Michael Phillips. York (74) (1807). Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
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.