HMS Preston (1757)

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

HMS Preston was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard by Adam Hayes to the draught specified in the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 7 February 1757.^[1]

Preston at the attack on Rhode Island on 8 December 1776
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Preston
Ordered	28 March 1751
Builder	Deptford Dockyard
Launched	7 February 1757
Fate	Broken up, 1815
Notes	Participated in: Battle of Dogger Bank
General characteristics [1]
Class & type	1745 Establishment 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1044 (bm)
Length	150 ft (45.7 m) (gundeck)
Beam	42 ft 8 in (13.0 m)
Depth of hold	18 ft 6 in (5.6 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	Gundeck: 22 × 24-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 22 × 12-pounder guns QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns

Service history

From May until October 1769 she was under command of Captain Basil Keith.^[2]

From January 1774 until April 1776 she was under command of Captain John Robinson with a crew of 350 men.^[3] Cuthbert Collingwood was a midshipman on the ship during this period.^[4]

She took part in the Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War under William Hotham. On 13 August 1778, cut off from her squadron by a storm, she encountered the French 74-gun Marseillois, which she fought indecisively.

Taking part in the Battle of Dogger Bank (1781) where she was disabled, with her commander, Captain Alexander Graeme losing an arm, she was sailed back to the Thames by Lieutenant Saumarez^[5]: 51

From March 1783 until April 1784 she was under command of Captain George Martin.^[6]

In 1785, Preston was converted to serve as a sheer hulk, and she was eventually broken up at Woolwich in January 1815.^[1]