HMS Eagle (1774)

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Third-rate ship of the Royal Navy, in service from 1774 to 1812

title: "HMS Eagle (1774)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ships-of-the-line-of-the-royal-navy", "intrepid-class-ships-of-the-line", "1774-ships"] description: "Third-rate ship of the Royal Navy, in service from 1774 to 1812" topic_path: "history/military" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Eagle_(1774)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Third-rate ship of the Royal Navy, in service from 1774 to 1812 ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox ship"]

FieldValue
section1{{Infobox ship/image
image'Eagle' (1774); 'Vigilant' (1774); 'America' (1777); 'Ruby' (1776); 'Standard' (1782) RMG J3243.png
image_captionEagle
section2{{Infobox ship/career
countryGreat Britain → United Kingdom
flag→ [[File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg
nameHMS Eagle
ordered14 January 1771
builderWells, Rotherhithe
laid_downApril 1771
launched2 May 1774
honours*Participated in:
fateBroken up, Chatham UK, October 1812
section3{{Infobox ship/characteristics
header_caption
class
tons_burthen1372 bm
length159 ft (gun deck)
beam44 ft
draught10 ft
hold_depth19 ft
propulsionSails
sail_planFull-rigged ship
armament*64 guns:
::

|section1={{Infobox ship/image |image='Eagle' (1774); 'Vigilant' (1774); 'America' (1777); 'Ruby' (1776); 'Standard' (1782) RMG J3243.png |image_caption=Eagle

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=Great Britain → United Kingdom |flag= → [[File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|60px|alt=Royal Navy Ensign]] |name=HMS Eagle |ordered=14 January 1771 |builder=Wells, Rotherhithe |laid_down=April 1771 |launched=2 May 1774 |acquired= |commissioned= |decommissioned= |in_service= |out_of_service= |renamed= |struck= |reinstated= |honours=*Participated in:

|notes=

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class= |tons_burthen=1372 bm |length=159 ft (gun deck) |beam=44 ft |draught=10 ft |hold_depth=19 ft |propulsion=Sails |sail_plan=Full-rigged ship |complement= |armament=*64 guns:

  • Gundeck: 26 × 24 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 26 × 18 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 10 × 4 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 9 pdrs |notes=

'*HMS *Eagle''''' was a British 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 2 May 1774 at Rotherhithe.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Turtle_submarine_1776.jpg" caption="American Turtle}}"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/A_Picturesque_View_of_the_State_of_the_Nation_for_February_1778_(caricature)_RMG_PU4786.jpg" caption="General Howe"] ::

On 7 September 1776, the experimental American submarine , under the guidance of army volunteer Sergeant Ezra Lee, was alleged to have attacked HMS Eagle, which was moored off what is today called Liberty Island, but was unable to bore through the hull. When Lee attempted another spot in the hull, he lost the ship, and eventually abandoned the attempt.

British naval historian Richard Compton-Hall stated that the problems of achieving neutral buoyancy would have rendered the vertical propeller useless. The route Turtle would have had to take to attack HMS Eagle was slightly across the tidal stream which would, in all probability, have resulted in Ezra Lee becoming exhausted having only 20 minutes of air. There is no record of the Royal Navy recording an attack. In the face of these and other problems Compton-Hall suggests that the Turtle got nowhere near HMS Eagle and the entire story was fabricated as disinformation and morale-boosting propaganda, and that if Ezra Lee did carry out an attack it was in a covered rowing boat rather than Turtle.

Eagle went on to take part in the Battle of Cuddalore in 1783.

Eagle was on harbour service from 1790, and was broken up in 1812.

Notes

References

  • Lavery, Brian (1983) The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850. Conway Maritime Press. .

References

  1. Lavery, ''Ships of the Line'' vol. 1, p. 181.
  2. Compton-Hall, pp. 32–40
  3. Winfield 2007, p. 105

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

ships-of-the-line-of-the-royal-navyintrepid-class-ships-of-the-line1774-ships