HMS Swiftsure (1621)

HMS Swiftsure captured, by Willem van de Velde the Younger
History
England
Name: HMS Swiftsure
Builder: Burrell, Deptford
Launched: 1621
Captured: By the Dutch on 1 June 1666
Notes:
Dutch Republic
Acquired: 1666
Renamed: Oudshoorn
Notes:
General characteristics as built[1]
Class and type: 42-gun Great ship
Tons burthen: 876
Length: 106 ft (32 m) (keel)
Beam: 35 ft 10 in (10.92 m)
Depth of hold: 16 ft 9 in (5.11 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament: 42 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1654 rebuild[2]
Class and type: 60-gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 898
Length: 118 ft (36 m) (keel)
Beam: 37 ft 10 in (11.53 m)
Depth of hold: 16 ft (4.9 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament: 60 guns of various weights of shot

HMS Swiftsure was a 42-gun great ship of the English Royal Navy, built by Andrew Burrell at Deptford and launched in 1621.[1]

She was rebuilt in 1654 at Woolwich by Christopher Pett as a 60-gun third rate ship of the line.[2] She was the flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir William Berkeley at the Four Days' Battle against the Dutch in 1666.[3] Berkeley led the van of the English fleet on the first day of the battle, 1 June, but outsailed his squadron into the midst of the Dutch, and was surrounded. After a fierce battle in which Berkeley was killed, Swiftsure was captured.[2][3] The Dutch renamed her the Oudshoorn (70 cannon) and changed the quartergalleries to hide her identity. She fought in the Battle of Solebay in 1672.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p158.
  2. 1 2 3 Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p160.
  3. 1 2 "Berkeley, Sir William (1639–1666)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2224. (Subscription required (help)).

References

  • Davies, J. D. "Berkeley, Sir William (1639–1666)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2224. (Subscription required (help)).
  • 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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