HMS Stirling Castle (1679)
| History | |
|---|---|
 England
|
|
| Name: | HMS Stirling Castle |
| Builder: | John Shish, Deptford Dockyard |
| Launched: | 1679 |
| Fate: | Wrecked, 1703, on the Goodwin Sands |
| General characteristics as built | |
| Class and type: | 70-gun third-rate ship of the line |
| Tons burthen: | {1059 29⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: | 151 ft 2 in (46.1 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam: | 40 ft 4 in (12.3 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 17 ft 3 in (5.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Full rigged ship |
| Armament: | 70 guns of various weights of shot |
| General characteristics after 1699 rebuild | |
| Class and type: | 70-gun third-rate ship of the line |
| Tons burthen: | 1087 64⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: | 151 ft 2 in (46.1 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam: | 40 ft 6 in (12.3 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 17 ft 8 in (5.4 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Full rigged ship |
| Armament: | 70 guns of various weights of shot |
HMS Stirling Castle was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, built at Deptford in 1679. She underwent a rebuild at Chatham Dockyard in 1699. She was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands off Deal on 27 November 1703.
The Stirling Castle was part of Samuel Pepys' 1677 plan for "Thirty Ships", the first systematic expansion of the Royal Navy replacing ships lost in the Dutch Raid on the Medway. Later she was one of 16 third rates to be rebuilt between 1697 and 1706, like the Northumberland and Restoration which would be lost on the Goodwin Sands in the same storm. Alterations at Chatham in 1699 increased her tonnage, and she was refitted in 1701. She is of particular interest to historians as a relic from a time of many changes in naval architecture, representing the birth of the ship of the line before the 1706 Establishment formalised rules for the dimensions of RN ships.
She was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands in the Great Storm of 1703. There were 70 survivors from her 349 crew. She seems to have dragged her anchor, slowing the ship's progress towards the Goodwin Sands and meaning that she reached the sands at high tide, narrowly avoiding the fate of the other ships which were grounded. As the storm continued, the tides turned and dragged the ship sideways, trapping her between the new tidal currents and the oncoming storms. The resulting tumultuous seas swamped the ship. Full of water, she sank onto the sands, leaving just the stern exposed for a fortunate few to cling to.
Lieutenant Benjamin Barnett RN (1669–1703), the father of Curtis Barnett, was lost with the vessel.
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