- HMS York (1796)
HMS "York" was a 64-gun
third rate ship of the line of theRoyal Navy , launched on24 March 1796 . She had originally been laid down at Barnard'sDeptford yard as anEast Indiaman named "Royal Admiral", but the shortage of naval shipping caused by the outbreak of the Revolutionary War with France prompted her purchase and eventual commissioning under her new name in 1796.As a 64-gun ship, she was a small third rate, and this factor combined with her unusual build resulting from her conversion from a mercantile craft to a warship to make a slightly ungainly and awkward ship. She spent much of her early career in the
Caribbean Sea , where she had her only contact with the enemy when she captured the small French schooner "Fancy" near St Thomas.She departed
Woolwich under Captain Henry Mitford on the26 December 1803 for a routine patrol in theNorth Sea , but in January 1804 she struck Bell Rock in the North Sea offArbroath , and sank with the loss of all 491 men and boys on board.References
*Grocott, Terence, "Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras", Caxton Editions, Great Britain: 2002. ISBN 1-84067-164-5.
* [http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/V.HTM Ships of the Old Navy entry]
*Cite web
url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/bell_rock_02.shtml
title=BBC - History - Who built the Bell Rock Lighthouse?
accessdate=2007-07-13 |format= |work=
*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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