from wikipedia about her History and career
HMS St Albans was a 64-gun
St. Albans-class third rate ship of the line of the
Royal Navy, launched on 12 September 1764 at
Blackwall Yard,
London. She served in the
American War of Independence from 1777 and was part of the fleet that captured
St Lucia and won victories at
Battle of St. Kitts and
The Saintes. She was converted to a floating battery in 1803 and was broken up in 1814.
Career
Captain Richard Onslow took command of
St Albans on 31 October 1776. He took a convoy to
New York City in April 1777 and joined
Lord Howe in time for the repulse of
d'Estaing on 22 July 1777 at
Sandy Hook. Onslow sailed for the West Indies on 4 November 1778 with Commodore
Hotham, and took part in the capture of
Saint Lucia and its defense against d'Estaing that December at the Cul-de-Sac. In August 1779, he brought a convoy from
St Kitts to
Spithead.
On 10 December 1780,
St Albans, in company with
Vestal,
Monsieur,
Portland and
Solebay captured the
Comtess de Buzancois.
Captain
Charles Inglis took command of
St Albans in November 1780. On 13 March 1781 he sailed in with Vice-Admiral
George Darby's fleet to the
relief of Gibraltar. He was with Admiral
Robert Digby's squadron later that year, before being sent to the
Leeward Islands to join
Sir Samuel Hood at
Barbados.
St Albans was with Hood during the
Battle of Saint Kitts, when Hood attempted to relieve the island and repulsed several attacks by the
Comte de Grasse on 25 and 26 January 1782. Inglis was again in action with the French on 9 April, when Hood's fleet clashed with de Grasse's in the Dominica Channel, and fought at the
Battle of the Saintes on 12 April, where the main British fleet under Inglis's old captain, now Admiral
Sir George Rodney, decisively defeated de Grasse.
St Albans had six men wounded during this engagement.
St Albans sailed to North America in late July 1782 with Rodney's successor, Admiral
Hugh Pigot. She was back in the West Indies by November, where Inglis was given command of a squadron of four ships cruising independently there. The squadron, consisting of
St Albans, the 64-gun
Prudent, the 74-gun
Magnificent and the sloop
HMS Barbados, was sent from
Gros Islet Bay on 12 February to investigate reports of a French squadron, consisting of
Triton,
Amphion and several frigates, having sailed from
Martinique.
On 15 February 1783 the 74-gun
Magnificent, under Captain
Robert Linzee. was on a cruise in company with
Prudent and
St Albans.
Magnificent sighted a strange sail and gave chase. She was close enough to identify the mysterious ship as a frigate by 18:00, and by 20:00 as darkness fell the quarry opened fire on her pursuer with her stern guns.
Magnificent overhauled the French ship by 21:15, and after fifteen minutes forced her to
strike her colours.
Magnificent took possession of
Concorde, of 36 guns and 300 men under the command of M. le Chevalier du Clesmaur. Shortly after surrendering,
Concorde's maintopsail caught fire, forcing the crew to cut away the mainmast to extinguish it.
Prudent and
St Albans came up two hours later and
Magnificent towed
Concorde to
St. John's,
Antigua.
On 26 November 1794 she rescued the crew of
HMS Actif which had developed leaks and was foundering.
St Albans and HMS
Porcupine (1777) shared in the capture on 8 November of the brig
Molly.
Fate
From 1803,
St Albans was used as a floating battery. She was broken up in 1814.
sistership
original art: drawing over etched outline. In the centre the dark bulk of Admiral de Winter's totally dismasted 'Vryheid', at the Battle of Camperdown on 11 October 1797, masks the 64-gun 'Director' of Captain William Bligh, which both ships engaged starboard to starboard broadside. To the right Admiral Duncan's flagship 'Venerable' is in the middle distance in starboard-quarter view after having engaged 'Vryheid' for three hours and lost her main topmast. Duncan's blue admiral's flag is shown nailed to the stump, as was famously done when the rest was shot away by one of his men, Jack Crawford of Sunderland. Ships are also scattered across the more distant background. After damage to 'Venerable' caused her to sheer off, 'Vryheid' engaged with 'Triumph', 'Ardent' and 'Director' until all her masts fell over the side and disabled her starboard guns: she then dropped out of the line as an ungovernable hulk and struck her colours, which brought an end to the battle. 'Director' evidently claimed the honour of firing the last broadside into her as shown by Owen's MS inscription on this image which is an original watercolour but one worked up over a basic etched outline of the foreground ships and 'Venerable' to the right. PAG8958 is another copy, though with only part of the same inscription, in which both the sky and the distant shipping beyond are different and in watercolour only. From this it appears that Owen supplied them to order, using a base stock of the plates but each being a more or less similar replica version. The inscription on this example reads: 'This plate of His Majesty's Ship DIRECTOR firing her last broadside to which / the Vreyhied [sic] struck is humbly inscribed to Capn. Wm. Bligh, Officers &c by their most / obedient and very humble servant Saml. Owen. Drawn etched & Pubd. by S. Owen No. 144 Strand April 1798.' The original drawing, in freehand watercolour, was one of a set of three the Owen appears to have done for Bligh in 1798 and which were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1799. All three were acquired by the Museum from Bligh's descendants in December 2018 and are numbered ZBA8790-ZBA8792. This item replicates the last of these. [PvdM 11/16, updated 12/18]
The
St Albans-class ships of the line were a class of three 64-gun
third rates, designed for the
Royal Navy by Sir
Thomas Slade.
Design
Slade based the
St Albans draught on that of his earlier 74-gun
Bellona-class.
Ships
Builder: Perry,
Blackwall Yard, London
Ordered: 13 January 1761
Launched: 12 September 1764
Fate: Broken up, 1814
Builder: Wells and Stanton,
Rotherhithe
Ordered: 13 January 1761
Launched: 24 October 1763
Fate: Burned, 1777
Builder: Clevely,
Gravesend
Ordered: 2 August 1780
Launched: 9 March 1784
Fate: Broken up, 1801
Some more detailed events with dates of the HMS Saint Albans and her sisterships you can find on Threedecks
British Third Rate ship of the line 'Saint Albans' (1764). Dates of service, name changes, previous and next incarnations, dimensions, armament, commanders, officers and crewmen, actions, battles, sources
threedecks.org
Details and list of Ships built to the Saint Albans Class design
threedecks.org
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org