Seaford was the second ship to bear this name since it was used for a 24-gun sixth rate purchased from Richard Herring of Bursledon on 27 December 1695 and captured by the French off the Scilly Islands on 5 May 1697 and burnt.[2]
She was ordered in the Fourth Batch of four ships from Portsmouth Dockyard to be built under the guidance of their Master Shipwright, William Bagwell. She was launched on 15 October 1697.[3]
She was commissioned on 28 October 1697 under the command of Captain Charles Strickland, RN. In 1699 she sail for the Mediterranean where Captain John Watkins, RN, assumed command. In 1701 Captain George Clements, RN, was her commander followed by Commander George Saunders, RN (promoted to Captain January 1705) in 1703. Both served in the Irish Sea. She took the French privateer La Russe on 2 April 1704. 1705 thru 1710 her commander was Captain George Rodgers, RN, remaining in the Irish Sea. She took the privateers La Marie-Anne on 17 April 1708 and La Duchesse on 28 August 1708. In 1711 Commander Thomas Dravers, RN (promoted to Captain 1 January 1713) forvoyage to Newfoundland in 1711, assigned to North Sea in 1712. She underwent a great repair in 1712 and 1713. She then voyaged to New York between 1714 and 15. In 1716 she was under Captain John Rose, RN, for service in the leeward Islands returning in 1719.[4]
Her dismantling in preparation to rebuild was completed in August 1722 at Deptford.[5] She was ordered to be rebuilt as a 374-ton (builder's measure) 20 gun sixth rate under the guidance of the Deptford Master Shipwright, Richard Stacey.[6] Her keel was considered laid upon completion of dismantling in August 1722. She was launched on 22 October 1724. Her dimensions were now gundeck of 106feet with her keel 87feet reported for tonnage. Her breadth was 28feet. Her depth of hold was 9feet. Her builder's Measure tonnage was 37580/94 tons. She carried a standardize armament of twenty 6-pounders on the upper deck (UD). She was a full rigged ship.[7] [8] Under Admiralty Order (AO) March 1727 she was completed for sea as a bomb vessel in April 1727 at a cost of £4,676.15.1d[9] for building and £1,010.3.7d[10] for fitting.[11]
She was commissioned as a bomb vessel in 1727 under the command of Captain Perry Mayne, RN, for service in the Baltic. However. she was then converted into a 20-gun sixth rate in 1728. She was in Jamaica in 1729. March 1731 she was under command of Captain William Laws, RN. She was ordered home, paying off on 4 October 1731.[12] She underwent a middling repair at Woolwich at a cost of 3,090.12.7d[13] from November to February 1732. In 1732 she was under the command of Captain Robert Long, RN, for service at New York. She returned and was paid off in June 1735.[14] She underwent a small repair at Woolwich at a cost of 2,073.8.5d[15] on 7 December 1735. In 1737 her bottom was graved with a new composition. She was recommissioned in March 1737 under Captain Henry Scott, RN (later known as Lord Deloraine) for service at South Carolina. In November 1739 Captain Savage Moyston, RN, took command and went to Lisbon followed by a stint in the Mediterranean.[16]
She was broken between April and June 1740 at Woolwich.[17]