Raisonnable (1768)

Raisonnable (1768)
Ship name	Raisonnable
Ship built	1767–1768
Ship builder	Deptford Dockyard
Ship launched	1768
Ship type	Third-rate ship of the line
Ship propulsion	Sails
Ship armament	64 guns (original)
Ship complement	~520
Ship notes	Captured by French 1778; recaptured 1782; broken up 1816

Raisonnable (1768) was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1768 from Deptford Dockyard for the Royal Navy. Built during the late reign of George III, she served through the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary period, participating in fleet actions, convoy duty, and blockade operations. The ship changed hands during the Anglo-French conflicts and underwent several major repairs before being broken up in the early 19th century.

Design and construction

Laid down at Deptford Dockyard under the supervision of shipwrights following design principles derived from Sir Thomas Slade and contemporary rear-admiralty patterns, she reflected the evolving 18th-century Third Rate concept used by Royal Navy planners such as First Lord of the Admiralty officeholders. The hull form drew on precedents including designs by Sir John Williams and measurements from HMS Victory trials; her dimensions placed her among the 64-gun class built to provide balance between firepower and sailing qualities valued by admirals like George Rodney and Edward Hawke. Constructed with oak sourced via supply chains linked to estates influenced by William Pitt the Elder fiscal policies, her timbers were seasoned under oversight from the Navy Board and fitted out with rigging, sails, and artillery from contractors who also supplied HMS Thunderer and other fleet units. Her armament plan followed Admiralty Establishment tables in force during the 1760s, specifying 24-pounder, 18-pounder, and 9-pounder patterns used broadly across squadrons commanded by figures such as John Jervis and Richard Howe.

Service history

Commissioned into the Royal Navy during a period of rising colonial tension, she initially served on home waters and in the North Sea fleet under captains appointed by the Admiralty. Deployments included patrols off the English Channel, convoy escorts to ports like Portsmouth and Plymouth, and participation in squadron maneuvers with ships from the Channel Fleet. During the early 1770s she joined detachments operating with flag officers who later saw action in theaters associated with American Revolutionary War commands such as Thomas Gage and William Tryon. Her complement and officers rotated through postings tied to naval career trajectories exemplified by captains promoted by Admiralty patrons like Lord Sandwich and Sir Edward Hawke allies.

In the mid-1770s, reassigned to the Mediterranean and Atlantic circuits, she joined operations that intersected with broader strategic movements involving fleets under Hugh Palliser and convoys linked to merchant interests in Lisbon and the West Indies. During patrols she engaged in cruises that brought her into contact with vessels operating under French and Spanish interests tied to maritime rivals including Louis XVI’s naval establishments and Spanish commands influenced by Charles III of Spain.

Notable engagements

In 1778, amidst the escalation of Anglo-French hostilities triggered by French entry into the American Revolutionary War in support of Continental Congress forces, Raisonnable encountered a French squadron and was captured after an action that reflected the era’s ship-of-the-line tactics favored by commanders such as Comte d’Estaing and Admiral de Grasse. The capture took place in the Atlantic approaches where convoys and fleets under admirals like Keppel and Lord Howe contested control. Under French control she served briefly alongside ships from the French Navy participating in operations connected to the Siege of Savannah and Caribbean expeditions linked to John Paul Jones’s contemporaneous actions.

Recaptured in 1782 during a later action involving British squadrons under officers from the Channel Fleet and North American Station, she returned to Royal Navy lists and resumed service, illustrating the fluid ownership of warships during the late 18th-century maritime wars. Throughout the 1790s and into the Napoleonic era she took part in blockade duty and convoy protection that paralleled campaigns led by admirals such as Horatio Nelson and John Jervis.

Modifications and repairs

Over her active life Raisonnable underwent successive refits at royal yards including Chatham Dockyard and Portsmouth Dockyard, receiving repairs to hull planking, rigging replacement, and updates to armament in line with changing Admiralty Establishments. Refit periods saw coppering of the hull introduced widely after trials involving ships like HMS Alarm; her masts, spars, and sails were renewed following damage sustained in storms and engagements similar to those experienced by squadrons in the Bay of Biscay. During the 1790s she was fitted with improved carronades following innovations promoted by foundries supplying Carron Company hardware, and her internal accommodations were altered to reflect evolving expectations for crew health advocated by naval reformers connected to figures like Sir Gilbert Blane.

Major repairs after battle damage and wear included a comprehensive rebuild which replaced framing timbers and reworked deck layouts, a process overseen by master shipwrights whose practices paralleled reconstructions performed on ships such as HMS Sultan and HMS Foudroyant.

Decommissioning and fate

By the 1810s, with advances in ship design and the proliferation of larger 74-gun third rates and newer frigates, she was deemed obsolete. The Admiralty ordered her paid off and laid up in ordinary at Portsmouth before she was surveyed and condemned. Following standard disposal practices of the period exemplified by the breaking up of contemporaries like HMS Bellerophon, she was broken up in 1816, her timbers and fittings sold or repurposed in commercial construction and dockyard stock, closing the chapter on a vessel that had served through a transformative era marked by campaigns associated with Napoleonic Wars and the long rivalry between Britain and France.

Category:Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Category:1768 ships