HMS Roebuck (1690)
| "Roebuck" by John Alcott "HMS Roebuck" by John Alcott | |
| Career | English White Ensign 1620-1707 |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Roebuck |
| Builder: | Wapping |
| Launched: | 17 April 1690 |
| Fate: | Sank, February 1701 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Fifth-rate |
| Tons burthen: | 299 tons bm |
| Length: | 96 ft (29 m) |
| Beam: | 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) |
| Armament: | 26 guns |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Commanders: | William Dampier |
HMS Roebuck was a small ship of the Royal Navy and, under the command of William Dampier, carried the first English scientific expedition to Australia.
Launched as an 8-gun fireship at Wapping on 17 April 1690, the 299 ton (builder's measure) ship was 96 feet long and 25.5 feet wide.[1] As a 26 gun fifth rate, the ship was placed under the command of William Dampier in his first voyage as a commander. After many years as a merchant, privateer, travel writer and explorer, Dampier was given a commission and commanded the first English scientific expedition to Australia. HMS Roebuck was reported to be old and in poor condition. During the expedition, Roebuck was extensively repaired in Batavia, Indonesia (now Jakarta). On the return voyage, Roebuck was leaking so badly that in February 1701 Dampier put into a cove on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic.
Despite days of heroic baling, Roebuck gradually settled to the bottom of the cove. All aboard were saved, and rescued a few weeks later. Dampier lost most of his specimens and notes, but some material was saved, including herbarium specimens that still exist in the Oxford University Herbarium. Traces of the Roebuck were located in 2001, 300 years after the sinking, including the ship's bell. After conservation, artefacts were returned to a museum on the island.
No drawings or plans of HMS Roebuck are known to exist, although notional images have appeared on several postage stamps.
External links
References
- ↑ Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
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