HMS Cambridge was an 80-gun third-rate

Third-rate

In the British Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks . Years of experience proved that the third rate ships embodied the best compromise between sailing ability , firepower, and cost...

 ship of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, built at Deptford Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment

1745 Establishment

The 1745 Establishment was the third and final formal establishment of dimensions for ships to be built for the Royal Navy. It completely superseded the previous 1719 Establishment, which had subsequently been modified in 1733 and again in 1741...

 as amended in 1750, and launched on 21 October 1755.

Early career

Cambridge’s first captain was Sir Peircy Brett

Peircy Brett

Sir Peircy Brett was an officer in the Royal Navy, who from 1740 to 1744 served on George Anson's voyage around the world. During this voyage he was appointed captain of the . He reached the rank of rear admiral in 1762, and thereafter served on land. In the Admiralty he was lord commissioner ,...

, who had previously been in command of HMY Royal Caroline

HMY Royal Caroline (1749)

HMY Royal Caroline was a ship-rigged royal yacht. She was ordered in 1749 to replace HMY Carolina as Britain's principal royal yacht. She was built at Deptford Dockyard under the supervision of Master Shipwright John Hollond to a design by Surveyor of the Navy Joseph Allin...

. He was moved to the Cambridge in expectation of the outbreak of hostilities with France. With the outbreak of the Seven Years' War

Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...

, Brett left the command in November or December 1756. He was replaced by Captain William Gordon. Gordon also did not spend long aboard Cambridge, leaving in April 1757 to take command of the newly launched HMS Princess Amelia

HMS Princess Amelia (1757)

HMS Princess Amelia was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 7 March 1757....

. His successor was Captain Thomas Burnet, who was promoted to Post-Captain

Post-Captain

Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...

 on 5 May. Cambridge then became Commodore

Commodore (Royal Navy)

Commodore is a rank of the Royal Navy above Captain and below Rear Admiral. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6. The rank is equivalent to Brigadier in the British Army and Royal Marines and to Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force.-Insignia:...

 Sir John Moore's

Sir John Moore, 1st Baronet

Sir John Moore, 1st Baronet KB was a British officer of the Royal Navy during the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War. He eventually rose to the rank of Admiral.-Childhood:...

 flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

 on the West Indies Station.

Cambridge remained on this station for several years. In January 1759 Sir John was reinforced with a fleet dispatched from England under the command of Commodore Robert Hughes, consisting of eight two-deckers, a frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 and four bomb ketches

Bomb vessel

A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannon —although bomb vessels carried a few cannon for self-defence—but rather mortars mounted forward near the bow and elevated to a high angle, and projecting their fire in a...

. They were also transporting a number of troops under the command of General Peregrine Hopson

Peregrine Hopson

Peregrine Thomas Hopson was a British army officer who saw extensive service during the Eighteenth Century and rose to the rank of Major General...

. They were instructed to make attacks on French settlements in the West Indies. The first of these was a British expedition against Guadeloupe, for which Moore transferred his flag to HMS Woolwich

HMS Woolwich (1749)

HMS Woolwich was a 44-gun fourth rate ship of the Royal Navy. She was built by Moody Janverin and John Darley at Bucklers Hard on the Beaulieu River in Hampshire, England and launched 7 March 1749.She was sold on 30 December 1762....

. Cambridge, in company with HMS Norfolk

HMS Norfolk (1757)

HMS Norfolk was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, and the second ship to bear the name. She was launched on 8 December 1757 at Deptford....

 and HMS St George

HMS Charles (1668)

HMS Charles was 96-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Christopher Pett at Deptford Dockyard until his death in March 1668, then completed by Jonas Shish after being launched in the same month. Her name was formally Charles the Second, but she was known simply as Charles,...

, were ordered to attack the main citadel. The resulting attack lasted from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, and succeeded in silencing the defences. After this success Commodore Hughes returned to Britain in June, taking Burnet and the Cambridge with him.

Later operations in the Caribbean

Both Burnet and Cambridge were back in the West Indies later in 1759, Cambridge again serving as Commodore John Moore's flagship on the Leeward Islands

Leeward Islands

The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...

 Station. In 1760 Burnet was replaced by Captain William Goostrey, and Cambridge became the flagship of Rear Admiral Charles Holmes

Charles Holmes (Royal Navy officer)

Charles Holmes was a Rear admiral in the British Navy during the Seven Years War, and was Wolfe's third-in-command during the capture of Quebec in 1759...

, who had replaced Moore and was commanding out of Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

. Cambridge then formed part of Sir George Pocock

George Pocock

Sir George Pocock, KB was a British officer of the Royal Navy. He rose to the rank of admiral.Pocock was from Chieveley in Berkshire, the son of Thomas Pocock, a chaplain in the navy. George Pocock entered the navy in 1718, serving aboard under the patronage of his maternal uncle, Captain...

's fleet at the taking of Havana from the Spanish in 1762

British expedition against Cuba

The Battle of Havana was a military action from March to August 1762, as part of the Seven Years' War. British forces besieged and captured the city of Havana, which at the time was an important Spanish naval base in the Caribbean, and dealt a serious blow to the Spanish navy...

. During that action she, HMS Dragon

HMS Dragon (1760)

HMS Dragon was a 74-gun Bellona-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 4 March 1760 at Deptford.She was commissioned in 1760, under the command of the Hon. Augustus Hervey, as part of the Western Squadron...

 and HMS Marlborough

HMS St Michael (1669)

HMS St Michael was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by John Tippetts of Portsmouth Dockyard and launched in 1669....

 were ordered on 1 July to bombard and capture the Moro Fort

Morro Castle (fortress)

Morro Castle is a picturesque fortress guarding the entrance to Havana bay in Havana, Euta. Juan Bautista Antonelli, an Italian engineer, was commissioned to design the structure. When it was built in 1589, Euta was under the control of Germany...

. Cambridges captain, William Goostrey, was killed by rifle fire from the fort and John Lindsay

John Lindsay (admiral)

Admiral Sir John Lindsay KB was a British naval officer of the 18th century, and the father of Dido Elizabeth Belle.-Family:...

 - then captain of HMS Trent

HMS Trent (1757)

HMS Trent was a 28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.-Construction:The Trent was one of five frigates of the class built of fir rather than oak...

 - took over command whilst the battle was still in progress. Cambridge’s eventual casualties were 24 killed, including her captain, and 95 wounded.

Return to Britain

By 1779 Cambridge was under the command of Captain Broderick Hartwell, and was serving as a guardship at Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

. Hartwell left the Cambridge in 1781 when he was appointed to be lieutenant-governor of Greenwich Hospital. On 23 December 1781 she was in company with , , and at the capture of the Dutch ship De Vrow Esther.

During the Spanish armament of 1790 Cambridge became the flagship of Vice-Admiral Thomas Graves, and was commanded by Captain William Locker

William Locker (Royal Navy)

William Locker was an officer in the Royal Navy, who served with distinction during the eighteenth century. He rose to the rank of captain and held the posts of flag captain and commodore.-Family and early years:...

. Cambridge was reduced to harbour service in 1793 and continued as the Plymouth guardship, being commanded by a Captain Boger and serving as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Richard King from 1797. She also transferred survivors from the wreck of HMS Colossus

HMS Colossus (1787)

HMS Colossus was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Gravesend on 4 April 1787 and lost on 10 December 1798.-Early history:...

 in 1798 from the brig

Brig

A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

s which had initially rescued them to HMS Castor

HMS Castor (1785)

HMS Castor was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The French briefly captured her during the Atlantic Campaign of May 1794 but she spent just 20 days in French hands as a British ship retook her before her...

. In 1800 Cambridge was the flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Pasley

Sir Thomas Pasley, 1st Baronet

Admiral Sir Thomas Pasley, 1st Baronet was a senior and highly-experienced British Royal Navy officer of the eighteenth century, who served with distinction at numerous actions of the Seven Years War, American Revolutionary War and French Revolutionary Wars...

. She was broken up at Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

 in July 1808.

External links

• Career of HMS Cambridge in Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy
• Images of HMS Cambridge at the National Maritime Museum
  National Maritime Museum
  The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...