HMS Mary Galley (1744)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Mary Galley.

HMS Mary Galley was a 44-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy, built in 1744 for service in the War of the Austrian Succession against France, Prussia and Spain. After two years assigned to patrol duties in the English Channel she was sent to the Caribbean to protect British commercial interests from pirate attacks. At the conclusion of the War she was returned to England in need of repair, but was instead left docked at Plymouth until 1764 when she was sunk as part of a breakwater for the port.

Mary Galley
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Mary Galley
Ordered	26 April 1743
Builder	Henry Bird, Globe Stairs, Rotherhithe
Laid down	18 May 1743
Launched	16 June 1744
Commissioned	13 September 1744 at Deptford dockyard
Fate	Sunk as breakwater, Plymouth 20 April 1764
General characteristics
Class & type	44-gun fifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen	712 13⁄94 (bm)
Length	126 ft 0 in (38.4 m) (overall) 102 ft 4 in (31.2 m) (keel)
Beam	36 ft 2 in (11.0 m)
Draught	15 ft 5 in (4.7 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	ship rigged
Complement	250
Armament	Lower deck: 20 × 18-pdrs Upper deck: 20 × 9-pdrs Quarterdeck: 4 × 6-pdrs

Naval service

Mary Galley was initially commissioned under Captain Piercy Brett, but command was transferred to Captain William Dandridge before the ship was put to sea.^[1][2] Dandridge died on 27 August, and command passed to Robert Swanton.^[3][1] Under Swanton, Mary Galley undertook an extensive voyage of patrol along the Bristol Channel, the Downs and into the North Sea. In March 1746 she underwent minor repairs at Sheerness dockyard at a cost of £984.^[1]

The ship returned to sea in April 1746 and was assigned to Atlantic service off west Africa, and then to the Leeward Islands from 1747 to 1748. Returning to Plymouth Dockyard in 1749, she was surveyed for damage but not repaired and was left largely abandoned in port. In March 1764 she was offered for sale as a simple "hull ... fitted with two chain pumps and ten capstan bars."^[4] There being no purchasers the vessel was instead decommissioned and sunk as part of a breakwater in Plymouth harbour on 20 April 1764.^[1][2]