HMS Chesterfield (1745)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Chesterfield.

History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Chesterfield
Ordered	23 May 1744
Builder	John Quallett, Rotherhithe
Laid down	2 June 1744
Launched	31 October 1745
Completed	25 January 1746 at Deptford Dockyard
Commissioned	November 1745
In service	1745–1749 1755–1762
Honours & awards	Battle of Minorca (1756)
Fate	Wrecked off Cuba, July 1762
General characteristics
Class & type	44-gun fifth-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	719 38⁄94 bm
Length	127 ft 5 in (38.8 m) (gundeck) 102 ft 8.25 in (31.3 m) (keel)
Beam	36 ft 3.5 in (11.1 m)
Depth of hold	15 ft 5 in (4.70 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	280 officers and crew
Armament	44 guns comprising: Upper deck: 20 × 9-pounder guns Gundeck: 20 × 18-pounder guns Quarterdeck: 4 × 6-pounder guns

HMS Chesterfield was a 44-gun fifth-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, which saw active service in both the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War.

Construction

Chesterfield was an oak-built 44-gun fifth-rate, one of 16 vessels built according to the 1741 revisions to the 1719 Establishment for Royal Navy design.^[1] For 44-gun vessels the revisions permitted little variation in dimensions or materials from the earlier 1719 plans, other than an additional two feet in length for the gundecks and three feet in breadth, as well as a small reduction in the number of upper deck gunports.^[2][3] Notably, no allowance was made for the use of longer, sleeker hulls such as were becoming common in equivalent French vessels, despite apparent benefits in handling and speed.^[4]

Orders to build Chesterfield were made in the middle years of the War of Jenkins' Ear, at a time when the Royal Dockyards were fully engaged in building and fitting-out ships of the line. Consequently, and despite some Navy Board misgivings, contracts for Chesterfield and other mid-sized vessels were issued to private shipyards, with an emphasis on rapid completion.^[5] Chesterfield's contract was signed on 23 May 1744 with shipwright John Quallett of Rotherhithe in South London, with work to be finished within one year for a 44-gun vessel measuring approximately 705 tons burthen.^[3] Subject to satisfactory completion, Quallett would receive a fixed fee of £7,554 for hull, masts and yards, paid through periodic imprests drawn against the Navy Board.^[6][7]

In practice neither the timeline nor the budget were met. Chesterfield's keel was laid down on 2 June 1744 but building works lasted seventeen months with the ship not ready for launch until 31 October 1745. The final cost was £7,931, with an additional £5,097 set aside for fitting out.^[3]

The vessel was named after Chesterfield, a market town in Derbyshire, England. This continued a Board of Admiralty tradition dating to 1644, of naming ships for geographic features. Overall nine of the 16 vessels in the 1741 Establishment were named after well-known regions, castles or towns.^[8][9][a]

As built, Chesterfield was 127 ft 5 in (38.8 m) long with a 102 ft 8 in (31.3 m) keel, a beam of 36 ft 3.5 in (11.062 m), and a hold depth of 15 ft 5 in (4.7 m). At 719 38⁄94 tons burthen, she was the second largest vessel in the 1741 Establshment after HMS Ludlow Castle, and a full fourteen tons over the stipulated contract size.^[8] Her armament comprised 20 nine-pounder cannons on her upper deck, and 20 eighteen-pounder cannons on the enclosed lower deck close to the waterline. These broadside weapons were supported by four six-pounder guns at the rear of the quarterdeck behind the wheel.^[3] The Admiralty-designated complement was 280 comprising four commissioned officers – a captain and three lieutenants – overseeing 59 warrant and petty officers, 133 naval ratings, 45 Marines and 39 servants and other ranks.^[10][b] Among these other ranks were six positions reserved for widow's men: fictitious crew members whose pay was retained by the captain to be reallocated to the families of sailors who died at sea.^[10]

Strategic rationale

The concept of 40 and 44-gun fifth rate ships such as Chesterfield had been developed in the seventeenth century when the Royal Navy was principally deployed in short-range operations in the English Channel and adjacent waters.^[11] Chesterfield was one of the last to be constructed before Admiral Anson's 1751 reforms introduced a new class of 74-gun vessels as the minimum size for a ship of the line and promoted development of small fast frigates of around 32 guns to chase the enemy close to shore.^[12][13] Under these reforms a 44-gun fifth-rate such as Chesterfield was an anachronism: too small to be effective in the line of battle but too slow to pursue opposing frigates or privateers.^[12] Instead, the impetus for Chesterfield's construction was Admiralty's realisation that too few middle-sized vessels were available to protect merchant convoys and conduct routine patrols in the Channel, the Mediterranean and off the coast of Africa. Many of existing fifth-rate vessels were also derelict: of the nineteen listed as being in service in 1739 only seven were seaworthy with another five salvageable after major repairs.^[14] The dearth of convoy escorts was so severe that in 1741 Admiral Thomas Mathews complained that he was using 70-gun ships of the line simply to guard Mediterranean trade.^[15] Vessels such as Chesterfield were urgently needed to alleviate this shortfall and allow larger vessels to resume their normal roles.^[16]

However the retention of antiquated design elements from the revised 1719 Establishment left Chesterfield and her sister ships at a disadvantage even for this task. They were known to Admiralty to be "bad sailers" by virtue of being both top-heavy and having too high a waterline.^[4] Indeed, Chesterfield and her sister ships rode so low in the water that their lower gunports could not be opened in rough seas for fear of flooding the gundeck.^[12] Against this Admiralty argued that compared with smaller vessels the 44-gun fifth rate offered greater room for crews to work the guns, while the enclosed upper deck reduced exposure to enemy small arms fire.^[4][17] But these were minor advantages at best. Overall, naval historian John Charnock suggests the 44-gun fifth-rates of Chesterfield's group were designed more from a sense of tradition than from coherent naval thinking, and indeed were "the worst vessels which, at that time, composed any part of the British navy."^[13] Only two new 44-gun fifth rates were constructed after 1750. By 1771 more than 80 per cent of the Navy's 44-gun fleet was out of service, permanently replaced by smaller and more durable vessels.^[18]

Naval service

Western Squadron, 1747

Chesterfield was launched at Rotherhithe on 31 October 1745 and sailed to Deptford Dockyard for fitting-out and to take on armament and crew. She was formally commissioned in November, entering Royal Navy service during the latter stages of the War of the Austrian Succession against France and Spain. Command was assigned to Captain William Gordon, previously of Chesterfield's sister ship HMS Looe. There were delays in mustering sufficient crew, and Chesterfield was not finally ready to put to sea until January 1746. She was then assigned to the Navy's Western Squadron under Admiral William Martin, tasked with protecting shipping in the English Channel and supporting the Navy's blockade of France's Atlantic ports.^[3][19] In this capacity she secured her first victory at sea with the capture of the Spanish privateer San Elmo in April 1747.^[3] In November 1747 command passed to Captain O'Brien Dudley and Chesterfield was sent to West Africa to disrupt French and Spanish trade.^[3]

Africa and mutiny, 1748

Cape Coast Castle, site of a 1748 mutiny by Chesterfield's crew.
From a 1747 work by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin.

The ship was the subject of a mutiny in October 1748 while anchored off Cape Coast Castle in West Africa. On 10 October Captain O'Brien Dudley had gone ashore in the longboat accompanied by most of the officers, the ship's mate and the boatswain Gastrien. First lieutenant Samuel Couchman was left on board in command of Chesterfield.^[20] Over the next few days Couchman became increasingly drunk and approached various crew members with the idea of seizing the ship and sailing to the East Indies to start a colony.^[20][21] The plan was eventually supported by Marines lieutenant John Morgan, carpenter Thomas Knight and carpenter's mate John Place, and around 30 ordinary seamen.^[21]

On 15 October the boatswain and mate returned from shore with orders from Dudley to make the ship ready to set sail. Instead they were confronted by a mob led by Couchman, waving a sword and shouting "Here I am, God damn me, I will stand by you while I have a drop of blood in my body!"^[21] The longboat crew were seized and dragged below decks while the boatswain and mate were asked if they would join the mutiny. Both refused and were also imprisoned. Later that evening they were brought back to Couchman's cabin and offered alcohol, then dismissed and apparently allowed to freely wander the ship. The boatswain immediately went to the ship's gunner who furnished him with pistols. As darkness fell the boatswain, mate and gunner approached around 20 crew members on the quarterdeck and, reminding them of the risks of piracy, secured their support for retaking the ship.^[21] This party then stormed Couchman's cabin and took all the leading mutineers prisoner. The longboat crew were released and sent back to the mainland to bring Dudley and other officers back to the vessel by first light. Couchman, Morgan, Knight and Place were placed in chains along with 18 other mutineers.^[21]

"What I have done, I cannot now go from. I was forced into it by the ship's company."

First Lieutenant Samuel Couchman justifying his decision to mutiny. From testimony at his court martial, July 1749.^[21]

Thus retaken, Chesterfield was returned to England where Dudley surrendered his command. A court martial was convened in early 1749 aboard HMS Invincible under supervision of Admiral Edward Hawke. Dudley was tried for neglect of duty but found not guilty and reinstated as captain from March 1749.^[3][21] Couchman and Morgan were sentenced to be shot, while Knight, Place and three others were to be hanged.^[22] Four other sailors were sentenced to life imprisonment with penal transportation to Gibraltar.^[22] The remaining mutineers were acquitted and allowed to return to Navy service.^[21]

The court was aided in its deliberations by Place, who gave a detailed defence of several accused sailors who he said played no real part in the uprising. Place also wrote directly to Couchman, forgiving him for inciting mutiny and urging him to "secure a blessed Eternity ... with God's assistance, and to die like a man."^[21] Couchman's written reply was brief: "Mr Place, you will die like a villain." The mutineers were executed in late July 1749.^[22] For his part in defeating the mutiny the boatswain Gastrien was released from sea service and named Master of Woolwich Dockyard.^[21]

Later service

Chesterfield was assigned to service in the Caribbean following her return to England in late 1748, with Dudley resuming the captaincy while the ship was in Antigua. This was a notional appointment, as Chesterfield's year of African service had left her in poor condition. Within a month she was decommissioned and returned to Portsmouth Dockyard for repairs.^[3]

Chesterfield was restored to service when Britain declared war on France in 1755 for duty in the Mediterranean, North America, Africa and the Caribbean.

In mid-June 1760 she was once again in West Africa when she narrowly avoided being seized by pirates near Cape Palmas, now in Liberia. Chesterfield had been sailing close to the Cape when she was surrounded by a fleet of canoes, the occupants of which swarmed up her sides to engage in combat with her crew. The attackers were eventually driven off with around 60 dead. A further 18 were captured, to be later sold as slaves at Cape Coast Castle.^[23]

After several years of convoy duty she was wrecked in the Old Bahama Channel, near Cuba, on 24 July 1762.^[3]

Notes

1. The exceptions to this naming convention were Hector, Roebuck, Lark, Pearl, Mary Galley, Prince Edward and Thetis.^[8]
2. The 39 servants and other ranks provided for in the ship's complement consisted of 25 personal servants and clerical staff, six assistant carpenters, an assistant sailmaker, a steward's mate and six widow's men. Unlike naval ratings, servants and other ranks took no part in the sailing or handling of the ship.^[10]

References

1. Winfield 2007, pp. 170–172
2. Clowes 1898, p. 9
3. Winfield 2007, p.171
4. Report by the Navy Board to Admiralty, 15 May 1747, quoted in Gardiner 2007, pp.20–22
5. Rosier, Barrington (2010). "The Construction Costs of Eighteenth-Century Warships". The Mariner's Mirror. 92 (2): 164. doi:10.1080/00253359.2010.10657134. S2CID 161774448.
6. Clowes 1898, p. 10
7. Baugh 1965, pp. 255–256
8. Winfield 2007, pp. 171–172
9. Manning, T. Davys (1957). "Ship Names". The Mariner's Mirror. 43 (2). Portsmouth, United Kingdom: Society for Nautical Research: 93–96. doi:10.1080/00253359.1957.10658334.
10. Rodger 1986, pp. 348–351
11. Lambert 2000, p.112
12. Winfield 2007, p. 175
13. Marcus 1975, pp. 7–8
14. Baugh 1965, p. 246
15. Baugh 1965, pp. 249–250
16. CLowes 1898, p.6
17. Gardiner 2007, p. 22
18. Winfield 2007, p. 175
19. Page, Anthony (2015). "The Seventy Years War, 1744–1815, and Britain's Fiscal–Naval State". War and Society. 34 (3). Taylor & Francis: 179.
20. Rodger 1986, p. 243
21. "Portsmouth, July 25, 1749". Derby Mercury. Derby, United Kingdom: S. Drewry. 11 August 1749. p. 3. Retrieved 23 October 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
22. "Trial of the sailors of the Chesterfield". The Scots Magazine. Edinburgh, Scotland. 7 July 1749. pp. 43–44. Retrieved 23 October 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
23. "Naval Affairs". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Aberdeen, Scotland: James Chalmers. 30 June 1760. p. 2. Retrieved 24 October 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Bibliography

• Baugh, Daniel (1965). British Naval Administration in the Age of Walpole. Princteon, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691624297.
• Clowes, William Laird (1898). The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to the Present. Vol. 3. London: Sampson, Low, Marston and Company. OCLC 645627800.
• Gardiner, Robert (1992). The First Frigates: Nine Pounder and Twelve Pounder Frigates, 1748–1815. London, United Kingdom: Connway Maritime Press. ISBN 9780851776019.
• Lambert, Andrew (2000). War at Sea in the Age of Sail. London, United Kingdom: Cassell and ompany. ISBN 9780304352463.
• Marcus, G. J. (1975). Heart of Oak: A Survey of British Sea Power in the Georgian Era. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192158120.
• Rodger, N. A. M. (1986). The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870219871.
• Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 9781844157006.