Spanish ship Infanta (1750)

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History
Spanish Navy EnsignSpain
NameInfante
BuilderHavana
Laid down3 June 1748
Launched20 June 1750
Commissioned15 August 1751
Captured13 August 1762, by Royal Navy
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
NameHMS Infanta
Acquired13 August 1762
FateSold, 1775
General characteristics [1]
Class and type74-gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen1918 tons
Length171 ft 6 in (52.3 m) (gundeck)
Beam51 ft 3 in (15.6 m)
Depth of hold22 ft 7 in (6.9 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament74 guns of various weights of shot

Infante was one of a class of three 70-gun ships ordered in 1748 to a specification laid down by Ciprian Autran, and was designed and built at Havana by Pedro de Torres. She was laid down on 3 June 1748 and launched on 20 June 1750. She and her sisters Galicia and Princesa were commissioned together on 15 August 1751, and left Havana (together with the equally new 80-gun Rayo) on 1 March 1752 as a squadron under the overall command of Jefe de escuadra Francisco Ponce de Leon, arriving at Cadiz on 30 April.[2]

She was captured by the Royal Navy on 13 August 1762, and commissioned as the third rate HMS Infanta (note change in spelling). She was sold out of the navy in 1775.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1. p178.
  2. ^ Rif Winfield, John Tredrea, Enrique Garcia-Torralba Perez and Manuel Blasco Felip, Spanish Warships in the Age of Sail 1700-1860. Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, 2023.

References[edit]

  • 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.