HMS Blackwall

History
England
Name	Blackwall
Ordered	12 September 1695
Builder	Sir Henry Johnson, Blackwall Yard
Launched	6 July 1696
Captured	20 October 1705, by the French
France
Name	Blekoualle
Acquired	20 October 1705
Captured	15 March 1708, by the British
Fate	Captured again by French 1709
General characteristics
Class and type	50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	678 44⁄94 bm
Length	131 ft 1.5 in (40.0 m) (gundeck) 109 ft (33.2 m) (keel)
Beam	34 ft 2.5 in (10.4 m)
Depth of hold	13 ft 7.5 in (4.2 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	230 (160 peacetime)
Armament	54 guns in wartime (46 in peacetime) comprising Lowerdeck: 22 × 12-pounders Upperdeck: 22 × 6-pounders; Quarterdeck: 8 × 6-pounders; Foc's'le 2× 6-pounders

Blackwall was a 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, one of four ordered in September 1694 (Blackwall and Guernsey on 12 September and Nonsuch and Warwick on 25 September) to be built by commercial contracts; eight further ships of this type were ordered on 24 December (six to be built by contract and two in Royal Dockyards). The Blackwall was built by Sir Henry Johnson's Blackwall Yard and launched on 6 July 1696.

In September 1705, whilst under the command of Captain Samuel Martin, the Blackwall, along with two smaller vessels, had been ordered to convoy some merchantmen to the Baltic. On 20 October, as Blackwall and her two consorts HMS Sorlings and HMS Pendennis were convoying the return voyage, they encountered a superior French force. All the English ships were captured, Blackwall herself being taken by the French ship Protée. Both Captain Martin and the French commander were killed in the action.

Blackwall was commissioned into the French Navy under the name Blekoualle; she was recaptured on 15 March 1708 but was not taken back into service in the Royal Navy, the decision being taken to have her broken up instead. However, she was captured again by the French in 1709, this time being named Blakoual and used as a privateer, remaining in French service until disposed of in 1720.

See also

• List of ships captured in the 18th century

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.
• Michael Phillips. Blackwall (48) (1696). Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
• Winfield, Rif (1997), The 50-Gun Ship: A Complete History. Chatham Publishing (1st edition); Mercury Books (2nd edition 2005). ISBN 1-845600-09-6.
• 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.