HMS Royal Sovereign (1701)

History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Royal Sovereign
Builder:	Fisher Harding, Woolwich Dockyard
Launched:	July 1701
Fate:	Broken up, 1768
General characteristics as built[1]
Class and type:	100-gun first rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1882 ^71⁄94 bm
Length:	174 ft 6 in (53.2 m) (gundeck) 141 ft 7 in (43.2 m) (keel)
Beam:	50 ft 3.5 in (15.3 m)
Depth of hold:	19 ft 1 in (5.8 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	100 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1728 rebuild[2]
Class and type:	1719 Establishment 100-gun first rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1883 ^46⁄94 bm
Length:	174 ft (53.0 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	50 ft (15.2 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft (6.1 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	100 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 42 or 32 pdrs Middle gundeck: 28 × 24 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 12 pdrs Quarterdeck: 12 × 6 pdrs Forecastle: 4 × 6 pdrs

HMS Royal Sovereign was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard and launched in July 1701.^[1] She had been built using some of the salvageable timbers from the previous Royal Sovereign, which had been destroyed by fire in 1697.^[3]

She was Admiral George Rooke's flagship in the War of the Spanish Succession.

Royal Sovereign formed the basis for the dimensions for 100-gun ships in the 1719 Establishment, being a generally well-regarded vessel.^[4] In practice, only Royal Sovereign herself was affected by this Establishment, being the only first rate ship either built or rebuilt to the Establishment in its original form, but the Royal William and Britannia had been rebuilt to the same dimensions (approximately) when both were re-launched in 1719. She underwent her rebuild to the 1719 Establishment at Chatham after an order of 18 February 1724, being relaunched on 28 September 1728.^[2]

The rebuilt Royal Sovereign remained in service until she was broken up in 1768.^[2]

Modern Popular Culture

In the video game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, The HMS Royal Sovereign (partner with the HMS Fearless) appears as one of the legendary ships which the protagonist Edward Kenway could encounter and sunk in Caribbean sea.

Notes

1. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p165.
2. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p169.
3. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p163.
4. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p76.

References

• Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.