HMS Centurion was a 50-gun Salisbury-class fourth rate 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...

. She served during the American War of Independence, and during the French Revolutionary

French Revolutionary Wars

The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...

 and Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

.

During the war with America, Centurion saw action in a number of engagements and supported British forces in the Caribbean and the North American coasts. Spending the period of peace either serving as a flagship in the Caribbean or laid up or under refit in British dockyards, she was recommissioned in time to see action in the wars with France, particularly in the East Indies.

Her most important action came in the Battle of Vizagapatam

Battle of Vizagapatam

The Battle of Vizagapatam was a minor naval engagement fought in the approaches to Vizagapatam harbour in the Coastal Andhra region of British India on the Bay of Bengal on 15 September 1804 during the Napoleonic Wars...

 in 1804, in which she fought against the French squadron of Contre-Admiral Charles-Alexandre Durand Linois

Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois

Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand, Comte de Linois was a French admiral during the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. He won a victory over the British at the Battle of Algeciras in 1801 and was reasonably successful in a campaign against British trade in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea in...

 that consisted of a 74-gun ship, and two frigates. Despite sustaining severe damage, she continued fighting, and survived the assault by the considerably heavier forces.

Returning to Britain shortly afterwards, she was refitted and transferred to Halifax

City of Halifax

Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

, where she served as a hospital

Hospital ship

A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....

 and receiving ship for the rest of her career. She sank at her moorings there in 1824, and was raised the following year and broken up, ending 50 years of Royal Navy service.

Construction

Centurion was ordered on 25 December 1770 and laid down in May 1771 at the yards of Barnard & Turner, of Harwich

Harwich

Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...

. She was launched on 22 May 1774 and had been completed by 9 September 1775. She cost a total of £20,537.17.9d, including mast

Mast (sailing)

The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...

s and rigging

Rigging

Rigging is the apparatus through which the force of the wind is used to propel sailboats and sailing ships forward. This includes masts, yards, sails, and cordage.-Terms and classifications:...

, with a further £4,205.16.10d spent on fitting her out for sea. Centurion was commissioned in July 1775 under her first commander, Captain Richard Braithwaite.

American War of Independence

Under Braithwaite, Centurion sailed to North America in late 1775, and was present at the occupation of Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

 in December of the following year. Centurion was part of Richard Howe's

Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe

Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe KG was a British naval officer, notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars. He was the brother of William Howe and George Howe.Howe joined the navy at the age of thirteen and served...

 fleet at its encounter

Battle of Rhode Island

The Battle of Rhode Island, also known as the Battle of Quaker Hill and the Siege of Newport, took place on August 29, 1778. Continental Army and militia forces under the command of General John Sullivan were withdrawing to the northern part of Aquidneck Island after abandoning their siege of...

 with the comte d'Estaing

Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing

Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, comte d'Estaing was a French general, and admiral. He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession, briefly spending time as a prisoner of war of the British during the Seven Years' War...

 on 11 August 1778, after which she briefly became Howe's 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...

 between 14 and 15 August. By November, she was in the West Indies with William Hotham's

William Hotham, 1st Baron Hotham

Admiral William Hotham, 1st Baron Hotham was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was the son of Sir Beaumont Hotham , a lineal descendant of Sir John Hotham....

 forces, where she supported the landings on St. Lucia

Battle of St. Lucia

The Battle of St. Lucia or the Battle of the Cul de Sac was a naval battle fought off the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies during the American War of Independence on 15 December 1778, between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy.-Background:...

 on 14 and 15 December. Remaining in 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...

 throughout 1779, Centurion took part in the Battle of Martinique

Battle of Martinique (1780)

The Battle of Martinique, also Combat de la Dominique, took place on April 17, 1780 during the American War of Independence in the West Indies between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy.-Origins:...

 on 17 April 1780, followed by periods of action in the indecisive clashes that took place on 15 and 19 May. Centurion, then returned to Britain and was paid off in September 1780.

After a period spent being repaired and refitted at Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

, she returned to North America in July 1781 under the command of Captain Samuel Clayton. On 22 January 1783, she came upon a battle

Action of 22 January 1783

The Action of 22 January 1783 was a single ship action fought off the Chesapeake Bay during the American War of Independence. The British frigate under the command of Thomas McNamara Russell captured the French frigate Sybille under the command of Théobald René, Comte de Kergariou-Loemaria...

 between the frigate and the 36-gun French frigate Sibylle  off the Chesapeake

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

, prompting Sybille surrender. At the end of the American War of Independence led to Centurion returned home, where she was paid off in October 1783 and fitted to be laid up in ordinary at Sheerness

Sheerness

Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....

.

Inter-war period

After a year spent laid up, Centurion began a Great Repair at Woolwich

Woolwich

Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...

 in December 1784, which was completed in December 1787. She returned to active service in February 1789, as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Philip Affleck

Philip Affleck

Philip Affleck was a British admiral — a younger brother of Sir Edmund Affleck. Although not equally fortunate in having had opportunities afforded to him to win for himself a degree of distinction similar to that which had been acquired by the commodore; still Philip, when serving afloat,...

, with William Otway as her captain. Otway sailed her to 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...

 in May 1789, returning to Britain in August 1792, where she underwent another repair and refit, this time at Chatham

Chatham Dockyard

Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...

. She was recommissioned during this work, in November 1792, under Captain Samuel Osborn. With the dockyard completed by January 1793 she sailed to 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...

 in February.

French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

After some time spent on the Leeward islands, Centurion sailed to the East Indies

East Indies

East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...

 in November 1793 and was present at the Action of 5 May 1794. On 22 October the following year, she and fought an action with the 44-gun French frigates Prudente

French frigate Prudente (1790)

The Prudente was a 32-gun Capricieuse class frigate frigate of the French Navy.In 1791, under lieutenant Villaret de Joyeuse, she was tasked with ferrying troops to Cap Français and with police duty in Santo Domingo...

 and Cybèle

French frigate Cybèle (1790)

The Cybèle was an Nymphe class 40-gun frigate of the French Navy.On 22 October 1794, soon after the outbreak of the war with England, and along with the 32-gun Prudente and the brig Coureur, she fought HMS Centurion and , who blockaded Ile de France. The French ships managed to drive away the...

, plus the 20-gun Jean-Bart and 14-gun Courrier off Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

. She went on to take part in the capture of Ceylon in July and August 1795, and of Amboyna

Ambon Island

Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of , and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of 2 territories: The main city and seaport is Ambon , which is also the capital of Maluku province and Maluku Tengah Ambon Island is part of the...

 and Baada in February 1796.

Captain John Sprat Rainier took command in April 1797, remaining initially in the East Indies, but shifting to the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

 in 1799 and 1800. The British had received information that the French had transferred warship frames to Suez to build some warships for the Red Sea. Centurion sailed to Mocha

Mocha

-Computing:* Mocha , a Java decompiler* JavaScript, an object-oriented scripting language originally distributed under the name Mocha* Mocha, a mock object framework for Ruby-Biology:...

, where she met up with and sailed with her to Suez. During 1799 William Hugh Dobbie, first lieutenant

First Lieutenant

First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...

 of Centurion, surveyed the Jeddah and Crossire (aso "Cossir" and "Kossir") roads, the harbour at the Jaffatine islands, and several other anchorages. His efforts would prove of use to a later British expedition under Sir David Baird and Rear-Admiral Blanket.

Centurion returned to Batavia

History of Jakarta

The history of Jakarta begins with its first recorded mention as a Hindu port settlement in the 4th century. Ever since, the city had been variously claimed by the Indianized kingdom of Tarumanegara, Hindu Kingdom of Sunda, Muslim Sultanate of Banten, Dutch East Indies, Empire of Japan, and finally...

 in August 1800. She came under the command of Captain James Lind, in an acting capacity, in 1804. On 23 August 1800, Centurion, with Sybille

French frigate Sibylle (1792)

The Sibylle was an 38-gun Hébé class frigate of the French Navy. She was launched in 1791 at the dockyards in Toulon and placed in service in 1792...

, Daedalus

HMS Daedalus (1780)

HMS Daedalus was a 32-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1780 from the yards of John Fisher, of Liverpool. She went on to serve in the American War of Independence, as well as the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....

, and Braave captured or destroyed several Dutch vessels at Batavia Roads. One vessel, a Dutch brig, the Royal Navy took into service as Admiral Rainier.

Battle of Vizagapatam

By September 1804, Admiral Peter Rainier

Peter Rainier, junior

Peter Rainier, Jr. was a British naval officer. Mount Rainier in Washington, USA, was named after him.-Biography:Rainier was born in England, the grandson of Daniel Regnier, a Huguenot refugee, and the son of Peter Rainier of Sandwich. He enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1756 at the age of 15. He...

, the commander of the fleet Centurion was attached to, had become concerned about the presence of a French squadron in the area under Contre-Admiral Charles-Alexandre Durand Linois

Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois

Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand, Comte de Linois was a French admiral during the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. He won a victory over the British at the Battle of Algeciras in 1801 and was reasonably successful in a campaign against British trade in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea in...

 which was raiding British shipping. He therefore substituted the small frigate HMS Wilhelmina

HMS Wilhelmina (1798)

HMS Wilhelmina was a 32-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was previously a Dutch ship and had been built in 1787 for the Dutch Republic as the Wilhelmina...

 with the Centurion as a convoy escort for a small convoy of two East Indiamen

East Indiamen

An East Indiaman was a ship operating under charter or license to any of the East India Companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries...

. The convoy was anchored at Vizagapatam early on 15 September when Linois's squadron approached the harbour. The Centurions commander, James Lind

James Lind (Royal Navy officer)

Sir James Lind KCB was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The son of James Lind, a distinguished naval physician, Lind also embarked on a career at sea, but served in a more front line role...

 was ashore, leaving Lieutenant James Robert Phillips in command. Phillips sighted the approaching ships and, suspecting them to be French, opened fire. Linois continued to approach, causing one of the East Indiamen to run ashore, where she was wrecked, while Lind hurried to return to his ship.

The three main French ships, the 74-gun Marengo

French ship Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1795)

The Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.In October 1796, under captain Racord, she was part of the Villeneuve's squadron that sailed from Toulon to Brest...

 and the frigates Sémillante

French frigate Sémillante (1792)

The Sémillante was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was involved in a number of multi-vessel actions against the Royal Navy, particularly in the Indian Ocean. She captured a number of East Indiamen before the she became so damaged that the French disarmed her and...

 and Atalante

French frigate Atalante (1802)

The Atalante was a 44-gun Virginie class frigate of the French Navy.Launched in 1802, she cruised in the Indian Ocean under capitaine de frégate Gaudin, in the squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois...

, continued to approach under fire from Centurion and the shore batteries protecting the harbour. When the French frigates came within 200 yards (182.9 m), Phillips opened fire on Atalante as Sémillante attempted to reach the other side of the British ship and surround her. Linois did not want to risk the Marengo when there might be uncharted shoals about, and so he fired from a longer range. After several hours of fighting Centurion had suffered severe damage. She had been severely holed, with her rigging wrecked and her anchor cable shot through, which caused her to slowly drift away from the shore, out of control. The French took the opportunity to capture the remaining East Indiaman and withdraw from the harbour. The Centurion lost one man killed and nine wounded. The French suffered slightly heavier losses, Marengo losing two men killed and an officer wounded and Atalante three killed and five wounded. Sémillante, which had not been closely engaged in the battle, suffered no casualties. Damage to the French ships was severe, and Linois was forced to abandon further operations.

Both nations claimed the encounter as a victory, the French for the capture of the East Indiaman and the British for the survival of Centurion in the face of overwhelming French numerical superiority.

Retirement from active service

Centurion did not remain much longer in the East Indies, being sent home in November as needing an extensive repairs, due at least in part to the damage inflicted by an infestation of white ants. The letter sent back with her from the commanding officer of her station declared that he was sending her home as she "will require an expensive repair if detained any longer in this Country; in her present state she may be converted by the Navy Board to some useful inferior establishment, as I know of no other mean of effectively getting rid of the White Ants onboard her, who have at times discovered themselves by serious depredations aloft".

Centurion was duly fitted at Chatham for service as a hospital ship

Hospital ship

A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....

, and sailed to Halifax

City of Halifax

Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

 in 1808 under the command of Lieutenant Edward Webb. She became a receiving ship and stores depot there under Captain George Monke, followed by a return to being a hospital ship in 1809. She was back in use as a receiving ship under Captain William Skipsey in June 1813, during which time she served as flagship of Rear-Admiral Edward Griffith

Edward Griffith Colpoys

Vice Admiral Sir Edward Griffith Colpoys KCB was a senior officer of the British Royal Navy during the early nineteenth century...

. Captain Justice Finley took over command in June 1814, followed by Captain David Scott from October 1814.

Fate

Centurion was finally hulked in 1817, in which state she spent the next seven years. She sank at her moorings on 21 February 1824; was raised and broken up in 1825.