HMS Director (1784)

HMS Director was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 9 March 1784 at Gravesend.^[1] She was laid down speculatively in November 1779, and ordered by the Navy the following year.

Director, raking the Dutch flagship Vrijheid, during the Battle of Camperdown, 11 October 1797

HMS Director
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Director
Ordered	2 August 1780
Builder	Clevely, Gravesend
Laid down	November 1779
Launched	9 March 1784
Fate	Broken up, Chatham, January 1801
Notes	Participated in: Battle of Camperdown
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	64-gun St Albans-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1388 (bm)
Length	159 ft (48.5 m) (gundeck)
Beam	44 ft 4 in (13.5 m)
Depth of hold	18 ft 10 in (5.7 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	Gundeck: 26 × 24-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 26 × 18-pounder guns QD: 10 × 4-pounder guns Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns

In 1797 Director was under the command of Captain William Bligh. In early 1797 he surveyed the Humber, preparing a map of the stretch from Spurn to the west of Sunk Island. In May, the crew mutinied during the Nore mutiny.^[2] The mutiny was not triggered by any specific actions by Bligh. On 12 October she took part in the Battle of Camperdown, where she captured the Dutch commander, Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter, and his flagship, Vrijheid.

H.M.S. Director 1784, at St Helena with a view of Jamestown

Fate

Director was decommissioned in July 1800 and broken up at Chatham in January 1801.^[1]