HMS Bombay Castle (1782)

HMS Bombay Castle was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 June 1782 at Blackwall Yard. She grounded on 21 December 1796 in the shoals of the Tagus River's mouth.

Bombay Castle
History
Great Britain
Name	Bombay
Namesake	Bombay Castle
Ordered	14 July 1779
Builder	Perry, Blackwall Yard
Laid down	June 1780
Launched	14 June 1782
Renamed	HMS Bombay Castle (17 February 1780)
Fate	Wrecked, 1796
General characteristics [1]
Class & type	Elizabeth-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1628,[2] or 162819⁄94 bm
Length	168 ft 6 in (51.4 m) (gundeck); 138 ft 3+1⁄8 in (42.1 m)
Beam	47 ft 1 in (14.4 m)
Depth of hold	19 ft 9 in (6.02 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

HMS Bombay Castle, in two positions, in the Channel off Dover, by Thomas Whitcombe

Origins

The British East India Company (EIC) funded the construction of Bombay Castle as a contribution to the war effort.^[1][2] Similarly, the EIC also paid for the construction of HMS Carnatic and HMS Ganges.

Bombay Castle was at Plymouth on 20 January 1795 and so shared in the proceeds of the detention of the Dutch naval vessels, East Indiamen, and other merchant vessels that were in port on the outbreak of war between Britain and the Netherlands.^[3]

Loss

The wreck at the mouth of the Tagus, Lisbon on 21 December 1796, with the Bugio Lighthouse seen beyond, Thomas Buttersworth

Bombay Castle was under the command of Captain Thomas Sotheby when she entered the Tagus, having taken a pilot on board. In attempting to avoid the storeship Camel, which had grounded ahead of Bombay Castle, Bombay Castle too grounded. During the subsequent week, attempts were made to float her off after boats had removed her guns and stores, but without success. The navy abandoned her as a wreck on 27 December 1798.^[4]

The frigate HMS Minerve heading for the open sea in 1797, the wreckage of the Bombay Castle still clearly visible alongside the lighthouse on the left, Thomas Buttersworth