HMS Augusta (1763)

Ship plan of Augusta
History
Great Britain
NameHMS Augusta
Ordered13 January 1761
BuilderWells and Stanton, Rotherhithe
Laid down28 February 1761
Launched13 July 1763
FateBurned, 22 October 1777
General characteristics
Class & typeSt Albans-class ship of the line
Tons burthen13813394 (bm)
Length159 ft (48 m) (gundeck), 130 ft 6.375 in (39.78593 m) (keel)
Beam44 ft 7.25 in (13.5954 m)
Depth of hold18 ft 10 in (5.74 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • 64 guns:
  • Gundeck: 26 × 24-pounders
  • Upper gundeck: 26 × 18-pounders
  • Quarterdeck: 10 × 4-pounders
  • Forecastle: 2 × 9-pounders

HMS Augusta was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 July 1763 by shipbuilding contractors Thomas Stanton and William Wells at Rotherhithe, London, and completed on 12 August 1763 at Deptford Dockyard

First commissioned in May 1763 under Captain Matthew Whitwell, the Augusta was initially fitted at Chatham Dockward as a guard ship, and served in that role at Sheerness in 1764, at Chatham 1765–68, and back to Sheerness in 1769. She was fitted at Chatham for Channel service in October 1770, but paid off into Ordinary (Reserve status) in May 1771. She sailed for North America on 28 March 1777 under the command of Captain Francis Reynolds. After running aground in the Delaware River Augusta was accidentally destroyed by fire on 23 October 1777 during the Battle of Red Bank.