English ship St George (1622)


St George, renamed as George from 1649 to 1660 during the Commonwealth of England, was a 42-gun great ship or Second rate of the navy of the Kingdom of England, designed and built by William Burrell at Deptford Dockyard and launched in 1622. By 1660 her armament had been increased to 56 guns. It finally increased to 60 guns.

Design and modifications

The St George was the fifth of the six "Great Ships" to be designed and built at Deptford Dockyard for James I's navy by Burrell. The other Second Rates were the Constant Reformation, Victory, Swiftsure, Saint Andrew and Triumph. The first three ships were designed with a keel length of 103 ft and a beam of 34 ft, but in the second trio the design was enlarged to 110 ft keel length by 36 ft 6 in, and following battle damage during the First Anglo-Dutch War the keel was extended by some 6 or 7 ft and the breadth was increased to 38 or 38.5 ft. Her burthen tonnage increased to 924 bm.
Like Burrell's five other Second rates, the St George was built as a two-decked ship with 42 guns, but during Charles I's reign a spar deck was added over the upper deck, and later this was hardened to support a third gundeck. She had no forecastle above this third deck. By 1652 she carried 60 guns, raised to 64 by 1660 and 72 in 1666. Her original complement of 300 men rose to 380 in 1666 and eventually to 460 in wartime.

Career and Fate

In 1625 the St George was the flagship of Vice-Admiral Henry Power for the attack on Cadiz. She became part of the Navy of the Commonwealth of England in 1649, with her name shortened to George. During the First Anglo-Dutch War she took part in all the major naval battles - the Battle of Dover (1652), the Battle of Kentish Knock, the Battle of Dungeness, the Battle of Portland, the Battle of the Gabbard and the Battle of Scheveningen. She was as the flagship of Robert Blake during the Anglo-Spanish War, when she took part in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1657), and he died aboard her on his journey back to England. At the Stuart Restoration in 1660, the George was transferred into the new Royal Navy, becoming HMS St George. During the Second Anglo-Dutch War she participated in the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665, the Four Days' Battle in 1666 and the St James' Day Fight in 1666. During the Third Anglo-Dutch War she took part in the Battle of Solebay in 1672, and in the two Battles of Schooneveld and the Battle of Texel in 1673. The St George was hulked in October 1687, and sunk as a blockship at Sheerness on 20 October 1697.