HMS Looe (1696) explained

HMS Looe was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Plymouth Dockyard in 1695/96. Shortly after commissioning she was wrecked in Baltimore Bay, Ireland on 30 April 1697.

She was the first vessel to bear the name Looe in the English and Royal Navy.^[1]

Construction and specifications

She was ordered on 1 April 1695 to be built at Plymouth Dockyard under the guidance of Master Shipwright Elias Waffe. She was launched on 5 August 1696. Her dimensions were a gundeck of 110feet with a keel of 93feet for tonnage calculation with a breadth of 28feet and a depth of hold of 11feet. Her builder’s measure tonnage was calculated as 384 tons (burthen).^[2]

The gun armament initially was four demi-culverins^{[3] [4]} on the lower deck (LD) with two pairs of guns per side. The upper deck (UD) battery would consist of between twenty and twenty-two 6-pounder guns^{[5] [6]} with ten or eleven guns per side. The gun battery would be completed by four 4-pounder guns^{[7] [8]} on the quarterdeck (QD) with two to three guns per side.^[9]

Commissioned service 1697

She was commissioned in 1697 under the command of Captain Richard Paul for service in the English Channel.

Loss

She was wrecked in Baltimore Bay, Ireland on 30 April 1697.

References

• Winfield (2009), British Warships in the Age of Sail (1603 – 1714), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, EPUB
• Colledge (2020), Ships of the Royal Navy, by J.J. Colledge, revised and updated by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow and Steve Bush, published by Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, Great Britain, © 2020, EPUB
• Lavery (1989), The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War 1600 – 1815, by Brian Lavery, published by US Naval Institute Press © Brian Lavery 1989,, Part V Guns, Type of Guns
• Clowes (1898), The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to the Present (Vol. II). London. England: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, © 1898

Notes and References

1. Colledge (2020)
2. Winfred 2009, Ch 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Fifth Rates of 32 and 36 guns, 1694 Programme, Looe
3. Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, culverins, page 101
4. A demi-culverin was a gun of 3,400 pounds with a four-inch bore firing a 9.5-pound shot with an eight-pound powder charge
5. Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, The 6-pounder, page 102
6. A 6-pounder was a Dutch gun used to replace the saker
7. Lavery (1989), Part V, Ch 18, Minion or 4-pounder, page 103
8. A minion renamed the 4-pounder was a gun of 1,000 pounds with a 3.5-inch bore firing a 4-pound shot with a 4-pound powder charge.
9. Winfred 2009, Ch 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Fifth Rates of 32 and 36 guns, 1694 Programme