Hi
Does anyone have the full list of ships Byng commanded in the Channel campaign Oct-Dec 1755?
I've mention of the ships with the most damage when they came in in late November
And I've seen a note of supposedly 17 line ships
But I have never seen, nor can I find, a list of what all the ships were in this force?
Thanks
Jon
Byng's 1755 Channel force
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jon_ystrad
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Re: Byng's 1755 Channel force
You might find ADM 8/30 Admiralty Disposition book for 1755-1756 of use. Should tell you where all RN ships are stationed, in theory.
OK, it was me, probably!
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jon_ystrad
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Re: Byng's 1755 Channel force
Brilliant, thank you
I wasn't sure such a thing existed!
HOPEFULLY I can get to Kew in the early Summer
Best Regards
Jon
I wasn't sure such a thing existed!
HOPEFULLY I can get to Kew in the early Summer
Best Regards
Jon
Re: Byng's 1755 Channel force
I know its the wrong part of the globe but here's the beginning of the monthly lists for ships in the East Indies for 1755-1756 - shows you the type of information you should find when looking at the volume covering the Channel fleet. The Australians microfilmed vast numbers of TNA documents as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP).
https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1249541814/view
https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1249541814/view
Re: Byng's 1755 Channel force
This is the sort of list that Beatson, Naval and Military Memoirs, vol. 3, and Schomberg, Naval Chronology, vol. 4, usually have, but in this case they only include Hawke's fleet earlier in the year. Byng probably had a subset of Hawke's and West's fleet, although some ships might have been ciommissioned after Hawke left and added to Byng. Hawke and West had:
St. George, 90 (Hawke)
Prince, Barfleur, Prince George, 90
Culloden, 74
Buckingham, 70 (West)
Lancaster, Oxford, 66
Captain, Revenge, Prince Frederick, Nassau, Ipswich, Monmouth, Elizabeth, Essex, 64
Medway, York, Weymouth, 60
Newcastle, Colchester, 50
Ambuscade, 40
Lyme, 24
Vice-Admiral Henry Osborne had a rather different force off Brest in January 1756:
Somerset, 64 (Osborne)
Buckingham, 70 (West)
Monarch, 74
Vanguard, Swiftsure, Chichester, Northumberland, 70
Lancaster, 66
Elizabeth, Yarmouth, Nassau, Monmouth, 64
Windsor, 60
Antelope, 50
A 20
(Schomberg, vol. 4, pp.234–235.
Byng's fleet might possibly be listed in a British naval history published shortly after the war, in the late 1760s. His biographers haven't paid much attention to the late 1755 cruise.
St. George, 90 (Hawke)
Prince, Barfleur, Prince George, 90
Culloden, 74
Buckingham, 70 (West)
Lancaster, Oxford, 66
Captain, Revenge, Prince Frederick, Nassau, Ipswich, Monmouth, Elizabeth, Essex, 64
Medway, York, Weymouth, 60
Newcastle, Colchester, 50
Ambuscade, 40
Lyme, 24
Vice-Admiral Henry Osborne had a rather different force off Brest in January 1756:
Somerset, 64 (Osborne)
Buckingham, 70 (West)
Monarch, 74
Vanguard, Swiftsure, Chichester, Northumberland, 70
Lancaster, 66
Elizabeth, Yarmouth, Nassau, Monmouth, 64
Windsor, 60
Antelope, 50
A 20
(Schomberg, vol. 4, pp.234–235.
Byng's fleet might possibly be listed in a British naval history published shortly after the war, in the late 1760s. His biographers haven't paid much attention to the late 1755 cruise.
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jon_ystrad
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Re: Byng's 1755 Channel force
Hi, thank you for that list which is good to have!
From what I have read Hawke's squadron came in sick, whilst Byng was trying to get his squadron for sea, which implies not a great deal of crossover of ships.
In the chapter Hot Water, page 175 of The Execution of Admiral John Byng as a Microhistory of Eighteenth Century Britain by Joseph J Krulder (Routledge 2021) he states:-
The weather had turned, and by the 22 November, the admiral called it quits. Byng ent a dispatch to the admiralty detailing the damage incurred: the Buckingham, Trident, Orford, Lyme, and Eagle heavily damaged due to rough seas and heavy gales. "Upon the whole I looked upon the Squadron as in a great measure disabled and not fit to remain as Cruisers." The Revenge ... had its main masr cracked and splintered...
Ramillies obviously wasn't with Hawke, but lying in the harbour. It does seem that Buckingham and Revenge were in both fleets, but Trident, Orford, and Lyme not in Hawke's. I'm not sure about Eagle - I have the vague idea that I read that it sailed late to catch up with Hawke, so would have been in both if so.
Not sure too what Kingston is doing? William Gough was 2nd lieutenant on her, but took a prize in the tender Tasker in September 1755 and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant on her, before Byng nicked him to be 1st Lieutenant on the Ramillies. So, maybe Kingston is just sitting in harbour all this time?
From what I have read Hawke's squadron came in sick, whilst Byng was trying to get his squadron for sea, which implies not a great deal of crossover of ships.
In the chapter Hot Water, page 175 of The Execution of Admiral John Byng as a Microhistory of Eighteenth Century Britain by Joseph J Krulder (Routledge 2021) he states:-
The weather had turned, and by the 22 November, the admiral called it quits. Byng ent a dispatch to the admiralty detailing the damage incurred: the Buckingham, Trident, Orford, Lyme, and Eagle heavily damaged due to rough seas and heavy gales. "Upon the whole I looked upon the Squadron as in a great measure disabled and not fit to remain as Cruisers." The Revenge ... had its main masr cracked and splintered...
Ramillies obviously wasn't with Hawke, but lying in the harbour. It does seem that Buckingham and Revenge were in both fleets, but Trident, Orford, and Lyme not in Hawke's. I'm not sure about Eagle - I have the vague idea that I read that it sailed late to catch up with Hawke, so would have been in both if so.
Not sure too what Kingston is doing? William Gough was 2nd lieutenant on her, but took a prize in the tender Tasker in September 1755 and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant on her, before Byng nicked him to be 1st Lieutenant on the Ramillies. So, maybe Kingston is just sitting in harbour all this time?
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jon_ystrad
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Re: Byng's 1755 Channel force
Hi, thank you for that list which is good to have!
From what I have read Hawke's squadron came in sick, whilst Byng was trying to get his squadron for sea, which implies not a great deal of crossover of ships.
In the chapter Hot Water, page 175 of The Execution of Admiral John Byng as a Microhistory of Eighteenth Century Britain by Joseph J Krulder (Routledge 2021) he states:-
The weather had turned, and by the 22 November, the admiral called it quits. Byng ent a dispatch to the admiralty detailing the damage incurred: the Buckingham, Trident, Orford, Lyme, and Eagle heavily damaged due to rough seas and heavy gales. "Upon the whole I looked upon the Squadron as in a great measure disabled and not fit to remain as Cruisers." The Revenge ... had its main masr cracked and splintered...
Ramillies obviously wasn't with Hawke, but lying in the harbour. It does seem that Buckingham and Revenge were in both fleets, but Trident, Orford, and Lyme not in Hawke's. I'm not sure about Eagle - I have the vague idea that I read that it sailed late to catch up with Hawke, so would have been in both if so.
Not sure too what Kingston is doing? William Gough was 2nd lieutenant on her, but took a prize in the tender Tasker in September 1755 and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant on her, before Byng nicked him to be 1st Lieutenant on the Ramillies. So, maybe Kingston is just sitting in harbour all this time?
From what I have read Hawke's squadron came in sick, whilst Byng was trying to get his squadron for sea, which implies not a great deal of crossover of ships.
In the chapter Hot Water, page 175 of The Execution of Admiral John Byng as a Microhistory of Eighteenth Century Britain by Joseph J Krulder (Routledge 2021) he states:-
The weather had turned, and by the 22 November, the admiral called it quits. Byng ent a dispatch to the admiralty detailing the damage incurred: the Buckingham, Trident, Orford, Lyme, and Eagle heavily damaged due to rough seas and heavy gales. "Upon the whole I looked upon the Squadron as in a great measure disabled and not fit to remain as Cruisers." The Revenge ... had its main masr cracked and splintered...
Ramillies obviously wasn't with Hawke, but lying in the harbour. It does seem that Buckingham and Revenge were in both fleets, but Trident, Orford, and Lyme not in Hawke's. I'm not sure about Eagle - I have the vague idea that I read that it sailed late to catch up with Hawke, so would have been in both if so.
Not sure too what Kingston is doing? William Gough was 2nd lieutenant on her, but took a prize in the tender Tasker in September 1755 and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant on her, before Byng nicked him to be 1st Lieutenant on the Ramillies. So, maybe Kingston is just sitting in harbour all this time?