Spanish ship Infante (1750)

Painting by Dominic Serres depicting captured Spanish warships at Havana; Infante is possibly among them
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 & typeShip 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
Armament70 guns of various weights of shot

Infante was a 70-gun ship of the line of the Spanish Navy. She was one of a class of three ships ordered in 1748 to a specification laid down by Ciprian Autran, and was designed and built at Havana by Pedro de Torres. Infante was laid down on 3 June 1748 and launched on 20 June 1750. She and her sister ships Galicia and Princesa were commissioned on 15 August 1751, and left Havana with the 80-gun Rayo on 1 March 1752 as a squadron under the overall command of Squadron Commander Francisco Ponce de Leon, arriving at Cádiz on 30 April.[2] During the siege of Havana, she was captured by the British on 13 August 1762, and commissioned into the Royal Navy as the third-rate HMS Infanta. She was decommissioned and sold in 1775.

Notes

  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

  • Lavery, Brian (1983) The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.