| History | |
|---|---|
.svg) Great Britain | |
| Name | HMSPearl |
| Ordered | 10 March 1708 |
| Builder | Richard Burchett,Rotherhithe |
| Launched | 5 August 1708 |
| Fate | Broken up for rebuilding between December 1722 and January 1723 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | 42-gunfifth-rate |
| Tons burthen | 55920⁄94 (bm) |
| Length | |
| Beam | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Depth of hold | 13 ft 7.25 in (4.1466 m) |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement | 190 |
| Armament |
|
HMSPearl was a 42-gunfifth-rate of theRoyal Navy. Her crew was involved in the hunt and death ofBlackbeard in 1718.
ThePearl was launched by Richard Burchett ofRotherhithe on 5 August 1708.[1] She was commissioned in July 1708 under the command of Captain Henry Lawson, who commanded her at first in theBristol Channel in 1709, moving to theChannel Islands in 1710, and then into theEnglish Channel in 1711. She went on to cruise off the coast of Portugal, where she captured two Frenchprivateers, theBizarre on 8 September 1711, and theVictorieuse on 18 September 1711. Captain Caesar Brookes took over command in 1712, serving in theNorth Sea, beforePearl was paid off in December that year. She recommissioned in July 1715 under the command of Captain Charles Poole, and served with AdmiralGeorge Byng's fleet in the English Channel, and then on the coast of Scotland during theJacobite rising of 1715. In 1716 she commissioned under CaptainGeorge Gordon, who served first in theBaltic and North Sea, before sailing toVirginia in 1717.[1]
By 1718 thePearl was stationed in Virginia, under Captain Gordon, and withRobert Maynard as her first lieutenant. That year, GovernorAlexander Spotswood issued an order for the capture of the pirateBlackbeard. Blackbeard, who had supposedly retired, was living in the neighbouringProvince of North Carolina, and Spotswood felt that he was an immediate threat to Virginia commerce should he resume his pirating career. Using information gathered from a captured member of Blackbeard's crew, Spotswood dispatched 33 crewmen from thePearl and 24 crewmen fromHMSLyme and commandeered two merchant sloops, which they used to sail down the coast to North Carolina. With Maynard in command, the group finally located Blackbeard's ship, theAdventure, and attacked, resulting in his subsequent death and post-mortem decapitation by Maynard.[2]
ThePearl remained in American waters until 1719, returning to Britain to be paid off in December 1719.[1] She was broken up atDeptford Dockyard between December 1722 and January 1723.[1] The succeedingHMS Pearl, launched in 1726, was ordered as a rebuild of the 42-gun ship.[1]