Name HMS Dunkirk Fate Sold, 1792 Depth of hold 18 ft 6 in (5.6 m) Length 47 m Builder Woolwich Dockyard | Ordered 12 July 1750 Tons burthen 1246 Launched 22 July 1754 Beam 13 m | |
Class and type 1750 amendments 60-gun fourth-rate ship of the line | ||
HMS Dunkirk was a 60-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1750, and launched on 22 July 1754.
Career
HMS Dunkirk was sent to America in 1755, along with several other ships, under Vice-Admiral Edward Boscawen. On 5 June she spotted four French ships which were bound for Canada under the command of Admiral Bois de la Mothe. Dunkirk, HMS Defiance and several other ships gave chase. Dunkirk came alongside the 64-gun Alcide and requested the captain meet with the Vice-Admiral, who was then about three miles away. After the captain of the Alcide refused, the Dunkirk opened fire. Soon afterwards, HMS Edgar came alongside the French at which Alcide struck her colours. The Alcide had been carrying 900 troops and the governor of Louisbourg. The general of those troops was killed and 30,000 pounds sterling captured. In the battle, another French vessel, the Lys was captured by HMS Fougueux.
In 1778, Dunkirk was placed on harbour service under captain John Milligan, who had previously served as second lieutenant aboard Eagle. During Milligan's captaincy, and despite her harbor service status, she was among the vessels credited with the capture on 23 December 1781 of the Dutch ship De Vrow Esther, being in company with Squirrel, Antigua, and Cambridge. Milligan left the ship in 1782, and Dunkirk was sold out of the navy in that same year.