HMS Glasgow (1757)

History
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
NameGlasgow
Ordered13 April 1756
BuilderJohn Reed, Hull
Laid down5 June 1756
Launched31 August 1757
CommissionedMarch 1757
Out of service1779
FateAccidentally burned down off of Jamaica in 1779[1]
General characteristics
Class & type20-gun Sixth rate
Tons burthen451 bm
Length
  • 109 ft 4 in (33.3 m) (gundeck)
  • 91 ft 2+1⁄2 in (27.8 m) (keel)
Beam30 ft 6 in (9.3 m)
Depth of hold9 ft 7+1⁄2 in (2.9 m)
Complement160 officers and men
Armament20 × 9-pounder guns

HMS Glasgow was a 20-gun sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1757 and took part in the American Revolutionary War. She is most famous for her encounter with the maiden voyage of the Continental Navy at the Battle of Block Island on 6 April 1776.

History

While under the command of Capt. William Maltby, the Glasgow ran aground on rocks at Cohasset, Massachusetts on 10 December 1774.[2]: 47  She was then refloated and arrived in Boston on 15 December for repairs. Capt. Maltby was then relieved of command at a court martial. In mid-January 1775, Vice Admiral Samuel Graves replaced Maltby with Tyringham Howe, who had been the captain of the HMS Cruizer up until then.[2]: 62 

Battle of Block Island

On 6 April 1776, on the waters off of Block Island, the Glasgow, under Captain Howe, encountered a squadron of eight converted Continental Navy warships[3]: 136–137  led by the Navy's commander-in-chief, Esek Hopkins.[3]: 134–135  After a two-hour engagement, she managed to escape. Glasgow was damaged but intact, with one dead and three wounded.[3]: 142 [4]

Fate

She later chased two large Continental frigates in the Caribbean before she was accidentally burned in Montego Bay, Jamaica in 1779.[1]

Captures

Under the command of Thomas Pasley, she captured sloop Juliana on 1 April 1777, the sloop Unity on 2 April 1777, the sloop Betsy & Ann on 4 April, the sloop Volante on 5 April, the brig Aurora on 10 April, the sloop Sally on 16 April, the American privateer sloop Henry on 19 April, the schooner Providence on 2 May, the schooner Nancy probably in early May, the schooner Betsy on 27 June, the sloop Antonio on 21 July, and the sloop Rover on 24 July. She captured the sloop Tryall on 25 July. She captured schooner Betsy & Ann on 4 November, the brig Sally on 8 December, the sloop Defiance and schooner Success on 9 December, the brig Minerva on 19 December, and the schooner Happy Return on 22 December 1777. Captured ships listed with unknown dates include the brig Dolphin, the schooner Gen. Thompson and the sloop Industry.[5]

On 28 February 1778, she captured the sloop Abigale 5 leagues east-northeast of the Tiburon Peninsula.[5] On 9 March 1778, she captured the schooner Nancy six leagues off of Mayaguana in the Bahamas.[6] She captured the sloop Lucy on 12 March off the southeast end of Mayaguana.[6]: 632–633  She captured a prize in April 1778, but it sprang a leak and sank.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 Larn, Richard (1992). Shipwrecks of the Isles of Scilly. Nairn: Thomas & Lochar. ISBN 0-946537-84-4.
  2. 1 2 "Naval Documents of The American Revolution, Volume 1, Part 1: AMERICAN THEATRE: Dec. 1, 1774–Sept. 2, 1775 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Dec. 6, 1774–Aug. 9, 1775" (PDF). United States Government Printing Office. 1964. Retrieved 6 April 2026 – via American Naval Records Society.
  3. 1 2 3 Romero, Michael (2020). "The Continental Navy's Shakedown Cruise" (PDF). The Saber and Scroll Journal. 9 (3). America Public University: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation: 133–147. Retrieved 6 April 2026.
  4. ↑ Clowes, Wm. Laird (1899). "The Royal Navy: a History from the Earliest Times to the Present". London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company Ltd. p. 3. Retrieved 6 April 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Naval Documents of The American Revolution, Volume 11, Part One: European THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 American: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via IBiblio. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Naval Documents of The American Revolution, Volume 11, Part Three: AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Ibiblio. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "NAVAL DOCUMENTS OF The American Revolution, Part 12" (PDF). history.navy.mil. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  • Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.
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