HMS Chesterfield (1745)

HMS Chesterfield was a 44-gun fifth-rate ship of the Royal Navy which saw active service in both the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. Built to an antiquated design, she was commissioned into service in 1745 and assigned to the Navy's Western Squadron guarding the English Channel and the nearby waters to protect merchant vessels en route to English ports. In 1747 she secured her first victory at sea with the capture of a 10-gun Spanish privateer.

In the following year Chesterfield sailed to West Africa to make an annual survey of British forts. A mutiny during this voyage led to the stranding of her captain on shore and an attempt by the first lieutenant to take the ship to the West Indies to steal supplies. Retaken by loyalists among the crew, Chesterfield was surrendered to British authorities in Antigua in December 1748. A subsequent court martial led to the execution of two officers and five others on board.

Chesterfield was decommissioned in 1748 but restored to active service in 1755 as Britain rearmed for the Seven Years' War with France. Present but not directly engaged in the Battle of Minorca in 1756, she was instrumental in transporting British wounded to Gibraltar for care. Later service included voyages between England and North America to protect British convoy vessels, as well as patrols of American coastal waters. In 1758 she captured two brigantines on the York River in Virginia, which were later found to be trading with the enemy. For the remainder of the Seven Years' War she was principally assigned to convoy escort duties between England and North America, other than one brief return to West Africa in 1760 during which she fought off an assault by pirates. After 16 years of service, she was wrecked off northern Cuba in July 1762 while escorting troop transports to assist in Britain's Siege of Havana.