HMS Union (1756)

HMS Union was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1750, and launched on 25 September 1756.[1]

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Union.
Union original body plan
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Union
Ordered: 12 July 1750
Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Launched: 25 September 1756
Fate: Broken up, 1816
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: 1750 amendments 90-gun second rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1781
Length: 171 ft (52.1 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 48 ft 6 in (14.8 m)
Depth of hold: 20 ft 6 in (6.2 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament:
  • 90 guns:
  • Gundeck: 26 × 32 pdrs
  • Middle gundeck: 26 × 18 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 26 × 12 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 10 × 6 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6 pdrs

In 1756, one of the midshipmen on the Union was John Hunter, later to become an admiral and the second Governor of New South Wales.[2]

The results (published in 1796) of an experiment made at the desire of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, on board the Union hospital ship, to determine the effect of the nitrous acid in destroying contagion, and the safety with which it may be employed were given in a letter addressed to the Right Hon. Earl Spencer, by James Carmichael Smyth, M. D. F.R.S., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and Physician Extraordinary to His Majesty, published with the approbation of the lords commissioners of the Admiralty.[3]

In 1799, Union was converted to serve as a hospital ship.

In 1802 she was renamed Sussex. She remained a hospital and receiving ship until 1816, when the decision was taken to have her broken up.[1]

Union hospital ship, upper deck plan
Hospital, middle deck plan


Citations
  1. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p174.
  2. Auchmuty, J.J. (1966). "Hunter, John (1737–1821)". Australian Dictionary of Biography Online. Melbourne University Press. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  3. Smyth, James Carmichael (1796). An account of the experiment made at the desire of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, on board the Union hospital ship, to determine the effect of the nitrous acid in destroying contagion, and the safety with which it may be employed. In a letter addressed to the Right Hon. Earl Spencer. By James Carmichael Smyth, M. D. F.R.S., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and Physician Extraordinary to His Majesty, published with the approbation of the lords commissioners of the Admiralty. J. Johnson, in St. Paul's Church-Yard. Retrieved 8 August 2018.

References
  • 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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