Fox was a 20-gun, 9-pounder frigate. She was part of the second batch of 20-gun frigates ordered to the 1733 Establishment.[1] This batch was initially a series of twelve ships with another two being added in June 1740.[2]Fox and her batch were ordered just prior to the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession which began in October 1739, and to ease production were contracted to commercial yards such as John Buxton senior's at Rotherhithe.[1][2] The class was nominally designed by Jacob Acworth but likely took inspiration from HMS Tartar, a 32-gun frigate rebuilt as a prototype 20-gun frigate in 1734 and designed by Richard Stacey.[3]Fox's group differed to the first batch in having two extra pairs of widely spaced gun ports to the rear of their lower decks.[2] In 1745 these ports were filled with the addition of more 9-pounders and the ships were re-rated as 24-gun ships, however as this was the year Fox was lost it is unlikely she received this upgrade.[1][2]
Fox was ordered on 13 August 1739 and launched on 1 May 1740 with the following dimensions: 106 feet 8 inches (32.5 m) along the gun deck, 87 feet 11+1⁄8 inches (26.8 m) at the keel, with a beam of 30 feet 8+1⁄8 inches (9.4 m) and a depth in the hold of 9 feet 6 inches (2.9 m). She measured 44018⁄94tons burthen.[1][4] She was fitted out on 27 June 1740 at Deptford.[1]
Service
Fox was commissioned in April 1740 under Captain Harcourt Masters to serve in the fleet of Admiral John Norris in the English Channel.[1]Fox captured two Spanish privateers before going to the Hamoaze for a refit on 10 October.[4] Command of Fox had changed to Captain Richard Edwards by November, and she was sailing off Lisbon.[1] During Edwards' time in command Fox took the 10-gun Spanish privateer Justa Refina.[5] Later in the year she escorted, with HMS Greenwich and HMS St Albans, a convoy of transports containing 2,000 troops which arrived at Jamaica on 15 January 1742.[6] In November 1742 Fox was serving off the Canary Islands under Captain Robert Erskine, where she took three privateers.[7] On 2 February Fox took Nuestra Señora del Humildade, and seventeen days later Sancta Justa Rufina; on 14 March Nuestra Señora de la Esclavitud was taken.[1] In June 1743 she took the sloopBumper with 500 barrels of Irish butter on board, which were later sold in Plymouth.[8] On 14 March 1744 Fox was cruising off the coast of Portugal and discovered a 'famous' 5-gun privateer which had sailed out of Bayonne, she took the ship after a chase of five hours.[Note 1][9][4]
On 18 April 1744 Captain Edmund Beavor took command to serve in the North Sea and around the coast of Scotland.[10] In July she escorted a convoy, alongside HMS Hind, of fifty-seven ships from Hamburg.[11] She took the 14-gun privateer Le Bien-Aimé Louis on 15 May 1745 off Flamborough Head.[Note 2][1][12][13]Fox had chased the ship overnight and upon catching her at around 9 A.M. Louis attempted to turn and fire at Fox, but in doing so lost all her top masts, and surrendered immediately.[12] Soon after this event Fox was ordered to concentrate her work around the coasts of Scotland, due to the outbreak in August of the Jacobite rising of 1745.[13] She patrolled the Firth of Forth, investigating the credentials of ships using those waters for Jacobite interests.[14] From September Fox was based in Leith Roads, where she assisted in transporting the army of General John Cope and in obstructing Jacobite communications. After Cope's loss at the Battle of Prestonpans on 21 September, a number of soldiers came to Fox to seek refuge, as the gates of Edinburgh were held by enemy forces.[10]Fox also played a more direct role in the battle, with some of her sailors being lent to Cope as artillerymen and fleeing from charging Scotsmen during the battle.[15][16]
At the end of September Fox sent her boat into Berwick with a letter from the commander of the garrison of Edinburgh Castle, Joshua Guest, to the prime minister Lord Newcastle making him aware that the garrison were sending out fake reports that the castle's food supply was very small to entice the rebels into attacking.[17] On 4 October Bonnie Prince Charlie threatened to burn down the house of the lieutenant-governor of the castle, George Preston, if his soldiers did not stop firing on the city. Preston responded by threatening to send Fox to burn Wemyss Castle, but neither of these events occurred.[18] By 13 October Fox was still in the Roads with HMS Ludlow Castle from where she exchanged signals with Edinburgh Castle about the Jacobite presence in the city.[19] Around the same time the rebels made a plan to take a merchant ship, also in the Roads, that had on board cannons, gun powder, and muskets.[20] This ship was being guarded by Fox as she could no longer reach her intended goal, which was the now rebel-held Leith.[21][20] The Jacobites intended to put twenty-two sailors aboard the merchant, and sail her into Leith out of the range of Fox's guns; Beavor heard of the plot and placed twenty of his own sailors on board as guards and moved Fox closer, stopping the attack from taking place.[21] Around 26 October three French ships arrived at Montrose with Irish officers, artillerymen, cannons, and funds for the Jacobite cause. In response to this, Rear-Admiral John Byng brought Fox, Ludlow Castle, HMS Gloucester, HMS Hazard, and HMS Happy Janet together in Leith Roads to combat them. The ships spent some time firing ashore but did not kill anyone.[22]
Loss
On 14 November 1745, Foxfoundered with all hands while on a cruise in a strong gale off Dunbar.[Note 3][10]Fox was driven ashore by the winds and smashed against jagged rocks off the coast, before breaking up in the nearby Belhaven Bay.[15] Alongside her crew of around 140, she had on board a number of Jacobite prisoners.[1][24][25] It is estimated that around 200 men were killed in total.[23]
Commemoration
The loss of Fox is remembered by the local community as a 'human tragedy'. It has been commemorated on a number of its anniversaries. In 2015 the 270-year anniversary was marked by Royal Navy personnel, re-enactors, and the public at Dunbar by prayers followed by a wreath being laid by a lifeboat where Fox came to rest.[15] The 275-year anniversary was marked in 2020 with a live-streamed commemoration that also included the setting of a wreath.[15][26]
Notes and citations
Notes
^Michael Phillips has the privateer's arsenal as 6 guns instead of 5. As well as the cannons, the ship was well-armed with six swivel guns and twelve coehorns.[4]
^Rif Winfield states that this was 10 May and not 15 May.[1]
^Some sources claim that there were nine survivors.[4][15][23]
^"HMS Fox: Commemoration". Dunbar Harbour Trust. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
References
Charnock, John (1797). Biographia Navalis Or, Impartial Memoirs of the Lives and Characters of Officers of the Navy of Great Britain, from the Year 1660 to the Present Time. Vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN9780511794025.
Clowes, William Laird (1897). The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to 1900. Vol. 3. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company. ISBN1861760124.
Elcho, David Lord (1907). A Short Account of the Affairs of Scotland: In the Years 1744, 1745, 1746. Edinburgh: David Douglas.
Fremont-Barnes, G. B. (2000). The British Army in the Jacobite Rising of 1745: A Guide to its Battles and Leaders. Kobe University Repository.
Home, John (1802). The History of the Rebellion in the Year 1745. London: T. Cadell, Jun. and W. Davies.
Laughton, J. K.; Cock, Randolph (2004). "Beavor, Edmund". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Wemyss, Alice (2003). Elcho of the '45. Edinburgh: The Saltire Society. ISBN0854110801.
Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London: Pen & Sword. ISBN978-1-84415-700-6.
External links
Ships of the Old Navy
August 21, 2023
1740, other, ships, with, same, name, sixth, rate, frigate, royal, navy, constructed, rotherhithe, john, buxton, senior, launched, 1740, part, 1733, establishment, built, response, upcoming, austrian, succession, spent, majority, career, patrolling, privateers. For other ships with the same name see HMS Fox HMS Fox was a 20 gun sixth rate frigate of the Royal Navy She was constructed at Rotherhithe by John Buxton senior and launched in 1740 Fox was part of the 1733 Establishment built in response to the upcoming War of the Austrian Succession and spent the majority of her career patrolling for privateers and smaller hostile craft and protecting convoys She was active during the Jacobite rising of 1745 contributing troops at the Battle of Prestonpans and protecting the advancing army and supplies of John Cope before succumbing to a storm off Dunbar on 14 November 1745 HMS Fox s sister ship Experiment L takes the French ship Telemaque R HistoryGreat BritainNameHMS FoxNamesakeFoxOrdered13 August 1739BuilderJohn Buxton Sr RotherhitheCost 3 771 5Laid down16 September 1739Launched1 May 1740Completed27 June 1740CommissionedApril 1740FateLost in a gale 1745General characteristics 1 Class and typeSixth rate frigateTons burthen44018 94 bm Length106 ft 8 in 32 5 m gundeck 87 ft 11 1 8 in 26 8 m keel Beam30 ft 8 1 8 in 9 4 m Depth of hold9 ft 6 in 2 9 m PropulsionSailsComplement140ArmamentGundeck 20 9 pounder guns Contents 1 Construction 2 Service 3 Loss 4 Commemoration 5 Notes and citations 5 1 Notes 5 2 Citations 6 References 7 External linksConstruction EditFox was a 20 gun 9 pounder frigate She was part of the second batch of 20 gun frigates ordered to the 1733 Establishment 1 This batch was initially a series of twelve ships with another two being added in June 1740 2 Fox and her batch were ordered just prior to the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession which began in October 1739 and to ease production were contracted to commercial yards such as John Buxton senior s at Rotherhithe 1 2 The class was nominally designed by Jacob Acworth but likely took inspiration from HMS Tartar a 32 gun frigate rebuilt as a prototype 20 gun frigate in 1734 and designed by Richard Stacey 3 Fox s group differed to the first batch in having two extra pairs of widely spaced gun ports to the rear of their lower decks 2 In 1745 these ports were filled with the addition of more 9 pounders and the ships were re rated as 24 gun ships however as this was the year Fox was lost it is unlikely she received this upgrade 1 2 Fox was ordered on 13 August 1739 and launched on 1 May 1740 with the following dimensions 106 feet 8 inches 32 5 m along the gun deck 87 feet 11 1 8 inches 26 8 m at the keel with a beam of 30 feet 8 1 8 inches 9 4 m and a depth in the hold of 9 feet 6 inches 2 9 m She measured 44018 94 tons burthen 1 4 She was fitted out on 27 June 1740 at Deptford 1 Service EditFox was commissioned in April 1740 under Captain Harcourt Masters to serve in the fleet of Admiral John Norris in the English Channel 1 Fox captured two Spanish privateers before going to the Hamoaze for a refit on 10 October 4 Command of Fox had changed to Captain Richard Edwards by November and she was sailing off Lisbon 1 During Edwards time in command Fox took the 10 gun Spanish privateer Justa Refina 5 Later in the year she escorted with HMS Greenwich and HMS St Albans a convoy of transports containing 2 000 troops which arrived at Jamaica on 15 January 1742 6 In November 1742 Fox was serving off the Canary Islands under Captain Robert Erskine where she took three privateers 7 On 2 February Fox took Nuestra Senora del Humildade and seventeen days later Sancta Justa Rufina on 14 March Nuestra Senora de la Esclavitud was taken 1 In June 1743 she took the sloop Bumper with 500 barrels of Irish butter on board which were later sold in Plymouth 8 On 14 March 1744 Fox was cruising off the coast of Portugal and discovered a famous 5 gun privateer which had sailed out of Bayonne she took the ship after a chase of five hours Note 1 9 4 On 18 April 1744 Captain Edmund Beavor took command to serve in the North Sea and around the coast of Scotland 10 In July she escorted a convoy alongside HMS Hind of fifty seven ships from Hamburg 11 She took the 14 gun privateer Le Bien Aime Louis on 15 May 1745 off Flamborough Head Note 2 1 12 13 Fox had chased the ship overnight and upon catching her at around 9 A M Louis attempted to turn and fire at Fox but in doing so lost all her top masts and surrendered immediately 12 Soon after this event Fox was ordered to concentrate her work around the coasts of Scotland due to the outbreak in August of the Jacobite rising of 1745 13 She patrolled the Firth of Forth investigating the credentials of ships using those waters for Jacobite interests 14 From September Fox was based in Leith Roads where she assisted in transporting the army of General John Cope and in obstructing Jacobite communications After Cope s loss at the Battle of Prestonpans on 21 September a number of soldiers came to Fox to seek refuge as the gates of Edinburgh were held by enemy forces 10 Fox also played a more direct role in the battle with some of her sailors being lent to Cope as artillerymen and fleeing from charging Scotsmen during the battle 15 16 At the end of September Fox sent her boat into Berwick with a letter from the commander of the garrison of Edinburgh Castle Joshua Guest to the prime minister Lord Newcastle making him aware that the garrison were sending out fake reports that the castle s food supply was very small to entice the rebels into attacking 17 On 4 October Bonnie Prince Charlie threatened to burn down the house of the lieutenant governor of the castle George Preston if his soldiers did not stop firing on the city Preston responded by threatening to send Fox to burn Wemyss Castle but neither of these events occurred 18 By 13 October Fox was still in the Roads with HMS Ludlow Castle from where she exchanged signals with Edinburgh Castle about the Jacobite presence in the city 19 Around the same time the rebels made a plan to take a merchant ship also in the Roads that had on board cannons gun powder and muskets 20 This ship was being guarded by Fox as she could no longer reach her intended goal which was the now rebel held Leith 21 20 The Jacobites intended to put twenty two sailors aboard the merchant and sail her into Leith out of the range of Fox s guns Beavor heard of the plot and placed twenty of his own sailors on board as guards and moved Fox closer stopping the attack from taking place 21 Around 26 October three French ships arrived at Montrose with Irish officers artillerymen cannons and funds for the Jacobite cause In response to this Rear Admiral John Byng brought Fox Ludlow Castle HMS Gloucester HMS Hazard and HMS Happy Janet together in Leith Roads to combat them The ships spent some time firing ashore but did not kill anyone 22 Loss EditOn 14 November 1745 Fox foundered with all hands while on a cruise in a strong gale off Dunbar Note 3 10 Fox was driven ashore by the winds and smashed against jagged rocks off the coast before breaking up in the nearby Belhaven Bay 15 Alongside her crew of around 140 she had on board a number of Jacobite prisoners 1 24 25 It is estimated that around 200 men were killed in total 23 Commemoration EditThe loss of Fox is remembered by the local community as a human tragedy It has been commemorated on a number of its anniversaries In 2015 the 270 year anniversary was marked by Royal Navy personnel re enactors and the public at Dunbar by prayers followed by a wreath being laid by a lifeboat where Fox came to rest 15 The 275 year anniversary was marked in 2020 with a live streamed commemoration that also included the setting of a wreath 15 26 Notes and citations EditNotes Edit Michael Phillips has the privateer s arsenal as 6 guns instead of 5 As well as the cannons the ship was well armed with six swivel guns and twelve coehorns 4 Rif Winfield states that this was 10 May and not 15 May 1 Some sources claim that there were nine survivors 4 15 23 Citations Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l Winfield 2007 p 1171 a b c d Winfield 2007 p 1170 Winfield 2007 p 1167 a b c d e Phillips Fox 24 1740 Michael Phillips Ships of the Old Navy Retrieved 31 March 2021 Charnock 1797 p 16 Clowes 1897 p 78 Charnock 1797 p 170 No 8275 The London Gazette 12 November 1743 p 3 No 8318 The London Gazette 10 April 1744 p 9 a b c Laughton amp Cock 2004 No 8340 The London Gazette 26 June 1744 p 3 a b No 8434 The London Gazette 21 May 1745 p 2 a b Charnock 1797 p 279 Wemyss 2003 p 83 a b c d e HMS Fox 1740 5 The Battle of Prestonpans 1745 Heritage Trust Retrieved 31 March 2021 Fremont Barnes 2000 p 24 Home 1802 p 127 Elcho 1907 p 292 No 8477 The London Gazette 19 October 1745 p 11 a b Charnock 1797 pp 279 80 a b No 8476 The London Gazette 15 October 1745 p 10 Elcho 1907 p 296 a b Harper Gavin 20 November 2015 Paris tribute at HMS Fox ceremony Clowes 1897 p 311 Charnock 1797 p 280 HMS Fox Commemoration Dunbar Harbour Trust 27 November 2020 Retrieved 31 March 2021 References EditCharnock John 1797 Biographia Navalis Or Impartial Memoirs of the Lives and Characters of Officers of the Navy of Great Britain from the Year 1660 to the Present Time Vol 5 Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 9780511794025 Clowes William Laird 1897 The Royal Navy A History from the Earliest Times to 1900 Vol 3 London Sampson Low Marston and Company ISBN 1861760124 Elcho David Lord 1907 A Short Account of the Affairs of Scotland In the Years 1744 1745 1746 Edinburgh David Douglas Fremont Barnes G B 2000 The British Army in the Jacobite Rising of 1745 A Guide to its Battles and Leaders Kobe University Repository Home John 1802 The History of the Rebellion in the Year 1745 London T Cadell Jun and W Davies Laughton J K Cock Randolph 2004 Beavor Edmund Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press Subscription or UK public library membership required Wemyss Alice 2003 Elcho of the 45 Edinburgh The Saltire Society ISBN 0854110801 Winfield Rif 2007 British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714 1792 Design Construction Careers and Fates London Pen amp Sword ISBN 978 1 84415 700 6 External links EditShips of the Old Navy Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title HMS Fox 1740 amp oldid 1167033985, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
