HMS Royal James (1675)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Royal James and List of ships named HMS Victory.

History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Royal James
Ordered:	1 April 1673
Builder:	Daniel Furzer, Portsmouth Dockyard
Launched:	27 June 1675
Renamed:	HMS Victory, 1691
Fate:	Burnt, 1721
Notes:	Participated in: Battle of Barfleur
General characteristics as built
Class & type:	100-gun first-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1421 76/94 bm
Length:	132 ft (40 m) (keel)
Beam:	45 ft (14 m)
Depth of hold:	18 ft 4 in (5.59 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Armament:	100 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1695 rebuild
Class & type:	100-gun first-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1486 tons (1509.8 tonnes)
Length:	163 ft 1 in (49.71 m) (gundeck), 135 ft 11¼ in (41.4 m) (keel)
Beam:	45 ft 4 in (13.82 m)
Depth of hold:	18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Armament:	100 guns of various weights of shot

HMS Royal James was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, designed by Sir Anthony Deane and built by his successor as Master Shipwright at Portsmouth Dockyard, Daniel Furzer, and launched in 1675. She was renamed HMS Victory on 7 March 1691 after the old second rate Victory of 1666 was condemned by survey and taken to pieces. Recommissioned in January 1691 under Captain Edward Stanley, as the flagship of Admiral Sir John Ashby she participated in the Battle of Barfleur on 19 May 1692 – 24 May 1692.

Victory was rebuilt at Chatham Dockyard in 1694—1695. She was briefly renamed Royal George in 1714, after the Hanoverians came to the throne, but resumed the name Victory in 1715. She was partly destroyed by an accidental fire in February 1721 and was broken up, though remained on the navy list until she was ostensibly rebuilt as the new HMS Victory.

References

• Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
• Winfield, Rif (2009) British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-040-6.