English ship Fagons (1654)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Milford.

Fagons was a fifth-rate warship of the Commonwealth of England's naval forces, one of six such ships built under the 1653 Programme (the others were Islip, Colchester, Selby, Basing, and Grantham). She was built by contract with shipwright Robert Page at his yard at Wivenhoe, Essex, and was launched on 22 May 1654 as a 22-gun Fifth rate. She was named Fagons after the village of St Fagans in Glamorgan, although the Commonwealth dropped the prefix "Saint" from her name.

History
England[1]
Name	Fagons
Namesake	St Fagans, Cardiff
Operator	Navy of the Commonwealth of England  Royal Navy (from 1660)
Ordered	1 October 1653
Builder	Robert Page, Wivenhoe
Launched	22 May 1654
Commissioned	1654
Renamed	Milford in 1660
Fate	Burnt by accident 1671
General characteristics as built 1654
Type	22-gun fifth rate
Tons burthen	26176⁄94 bm
Length	82 ft 0 in (25.0 m) keel for tonnage
Beam	24 ft 6 in (7.5 m) for tonnage
Draught	12 ft (3.7 m)
Depth of hold	10 ft 0 in (3.0 m)
Sail plan	ship-rigged
Complement	100 in 1660, 110 in 1666, 125 in 1667
Armament	As built 1654 18 x demi-culverins (UD) 4 x sakers (QD)

Her length on the keel was recorded as 82 feet (25.0 metres) for tonnage calculation. The breadth was 24 feet 6 inches (7.5 metres) with a depth in hold of 10 ft 0 in (3.0 m). The tonnage was thus calculated at 26176⁄94 bm tons.^[1]

She was originally armed with 22 guns, comprising 18 demi-culverins on the single gundeck and 4 sakers on the quarterdeck. At the Restoration in 1660 she was taken into the Royal Navy and renamed as HMS Milford. By 1665 she actually carried 30 guns, comprising 14 demi-culverins and 2 6-pounders on the gundeck, and 12 sakers on the quarterdeck, plus 2 3-pounders on the poop. In the Second Anglo-Dutch War she took part in the Battle of Lowestoft in June 1665. She was at Port Mahon (Menorca under Captain John Shelley on 7 July 1671 when a fire broke out in her bread room, and she was burnt out.^[2]

Notes