HMS Sunderland (1724)

History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Sunderland
Ordered	31 March 1721
Builder	Chatham Dockyard,; Chatham, Kent;
Launched	30 April 1724
Fate	Foundered, 1761
General characteristics as built
Class and type	1719 Establishment 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	951 (bm)
Length	144 ft (43.9 m) (gundeck)
Beam	39 ft (11.9 m)
Depth of hold	16 ft 5 in (5.0 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	Gundeck: 24 × 24-pounder guns; Upper gundeck: 26 × 9-pounder guns; QD: 8 × 6-pounder guns; Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns;
General characteristics after 1744 rebuild
Class and type	1741 proposals 58-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1123 (bm)
Length	147 ft (44.8 m) (gundeck)
Beam	42 ft (12.8 m)
Depth of hold	18 ft 1 in (5.5 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	Gundeck: 24 × 24-pounder guns; Upper gundeck: 24 × 12-pounder guns; QD: 8 × 6-pounder guns; Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns;

HMS Sunderland was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built to the 1719 Establishment at Chatham Dockyard, and launched on 30 April 1724.^[1]

On 25 December 1742 Sunderland was ordered to be taken to pieces for rebuilding as a 58-gun fourth rate to the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment at Portsmouth Dockyard, from where she was relaunched on 4 April 1744.^[2]

Sunderland sailed from Portsmouth on 6 May 1758, bound for Madras. She sailed in convoy with the 74-gun HMS Grafton and the East Indiaman Pitt.

On 1 January 1761, Sunderland was caught in a cyclone off Pondicherry, India, and foundered. She had been anchored and attempted to go out to sea, but was unable to and so reanchored. The storm overwhelmed her and she foundered six miles north of the anchorage; 376 of her crew died and 17 survived. The same storm claimed four other warships as well. HMS Duc D'Aquitaine foundered in much the same manner as Sunderland, and with a similar outcome. HMS Newcastle, HMS Queenborough, and HMS Protector were all driven onshore and wrecked.^[3]

Notes

^ ^a ^b Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p170.
^ ^a ^b Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p172.
^ Hepper (1994), p.44-5.

References

Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
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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[Lavery,_SoLv1_p170-1] Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p170.

[Lavery,_SoLv1_p172-2] Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p172.

[3] Hepper (1994), p.44-5.

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