HMS Suffolk was a 74-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...

, launched on 22 February 1765 at Rotherhithe

Rotherhithe

Rotherhithe is a residential district in inner southeast London, England and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is located on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping and the Isle of Dogs on the north bank, and is a part of the Docklands area...

. She was designed by William Bateley, based on the principles of his earlier , and was the only ship built to her draught.

On 4 May 1794 Captain Peter Rainier, with the Suffolk, a 64-gun ship, and four or five frigates, undertook to escort a convoy to India. In November arrived at Madras. In July, the Suffolk, now under Captain Robert Lambert, HMS Hobart, HMS Centurion

HMS Centurion (1774)

HMS Centurion was a 50-gun Salisbury-class fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She served during the American War of Independence, and during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....

 and transports, sailed from Madras, joined en route by HMS Diomede

HMS Diomede (1781)

HMS Diomede was a 44-gun fifth rate built by James Martin Hillhouse and launched at Bristol on 18 October 1781. She belonged to the Roebuck class of vessels specially built during the American Revolutionary War for service in the shallow American coastal waters...

, for Ceylon to take Trincomalee

Trincomalee

Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...

 and other Dutch settlements on the island. On 16 Feb 1796 Rear-admiral Peter Rainier arrived with a squadron, including the Suffolk, off Amboyna

Amboyna

Amboyna can refer to:* Ambon, Maluku, a city in Indonesia* Ambon Island, sometimes named Amboyna, part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia* Amboyna burl of Pterocarpus trees* Amboyna , a moth genus* Amboyna , a play by John Dryden...

, Molucca islands and landed troops who were able to take possession without facing any resistance. Then on 7 March, the squadron arrived off Great-Banda, or Banda-Neira and again landed troops, this time taking possession after facing only a little resistance.

What is perhaps more interesting and of greater long-term significance is that on this voyage, Suffolk was taking part in an experiment under the auspices of the Sick and Hurt Board. At the instigation of Gilbert Blane

Gilbert Blane

Sir Gilbert Blane of Blanefield, 1st Baronet FRSE FRS MRCP was a Scottish physician who instituted health reform in the Royal Navy....

, the Admiralty implemented a long-term trial of citrus fruit as a remedy for scurvy

Scurvy

Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...

. Lemon juice was issued on board the Suffolk on her twenty-three week, non-stop voyage to India. The daily ration of two-thirds of an ounce mixed in grog contained just about the minimum daily intake of 10 mg vitamin C. There was no serious outbreak of scurvy. The following year the Admiralty adopted a general issue of lemon juice to the whole fleet.

Suffolk was broken up in 1803.