HMS Rochester (1749)

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

HMS Rochester was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard and launched on 3 August 1749.^[1]

Drawing showing the body plans, stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for the Rochester
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Rochester
Ordered	8 March 1747
Builder	Deptford Dockyard
Launched	3 August 1749
Fate	Sold, 1770
General characteristics [1]
Class & type	50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1034 bm
Length	146 ft (44.5 m) (gundeck)
Beam	40 ft (12.2 m)
Depth of hold	16 ft 10 in (5.1 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	50 guns: Gundeck: 22 × 24 pdrs Upper gundeck: 22 × 12 pdrs Quarterdeck: 4 × 6 pdrs Forecastle: 2 × 6 pdrs

In contrast to standard practise at the time, Rochester was not built to the Establishment of dimensions in effect at the time (in this case, the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment). Rochester and her sister-ship, Bristol, were 6 ft (1.8 m) longer than the Establishment specified, and were ordered as an experiment in building larger ships in response to the widening gulf between the sizes of British ships and their continental counterparts.^[2]

Rochester was eventually sold out of the navy in 1770.^[1]