HMS Culloden (1776)

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Engraving of HMS Culloden
Career (Great Britain)
Name:	HMS Culloden
Ordered:	30 November 1769
Builder:	Deptford Dockyard
Laid down:	July 1770
Launched:	18 May 1776
Honours and awards:	Participated in: Battle of Cape St Vincent
Fate:	Ran aground 24 January 1781 on Culloden Point, Montauk, NY and destroyed to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy.
General characteristics
Class and type:	Culloden-class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1659 tons (1685.6 tonnes)
Length:	170 ft (52 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 2 in (14.4 m)
Depth of hold:	19 ft 11 in (6.1 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Complement:	650 officers and men
Armament:	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs

HMS Culloden was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford, England, and launched on 18 May 1776. She was the fourth warship to be named after the Battle of Culloden, which took place in Scotland in 1746 and saw the defeat of the Jacobite Rising.

She served with the Channel Fleet during the American War of Independence, seeing action at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, before being sent out to the West Indies. Her stay there was brief, sailing for New York with Admiral Rodney in August 1780 to join the North American station. The ship's specific duties was to blockade the French at Newport, Rhode Island where a French army of 6,000 had disembarked in July 1780.

On 24 January 1781, while trying to intercept French ships attempting to run the blockade at Newport, RI, Culloden encountered severe weather and ran aground on the northern shore of Montauk. The area is now known as Culloden Point.

There were no fatalities, but all attempts to refloat the vessel failed.

[edit] Salvage Operations

The British conducted salvage operations on the ship through March retrieving all 28 eighteen-pounder guns on the upper deck, and all 18 nine-pounders on the quarter-deck. The larger cannons were pushed into the sea and the ship was then burned to the water line and abandoned by the British.^[1]

On July 24, 1781, Joseph Woodbridge of Groton, Connecticut sent a letter to George Washington offering to sell him 16 32-pounders from the wreck.^[2]

On July 14, 1815, Samuel Jeffers arrived in Newport, Rhode Island with 12 tons of pig iron and a 32-pounder from the wreck.^[3]

In 1971 Henry W. Moeller, an undersea archaeologist associated with Dowling College, discovered the keel and large wooden beams resting in 10 to 15 feet of water 50 metres (150 feet) off Culloden Point. A gudgeon imprinted with the name "Culloden" was recovered. Subsequent recovery efforts brought up another 32-pound cannon as well as copper sheathing. A sketch of the outline of the ruins showed the ship resting on a large boulder.

[edit] National Register of Historic Places

Since 1979 it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which prohibits SCUBA divers from taking artifacts or otherwise disturbing the wreck. The official National Historic Area is a "circle with a radius of approximately 200 feet and a center a t the point formed by UTM coordinates 19/2 51 370/45 50 810."^[4]

The application notes that addition to Revolutionary War connections, the shipwreck is important for showing the British state of the art copper sheathing of the ship as well as the possibility that it may reveal problems about corruption in the British shipyards at the time. The application notes:

Finally, the Culloden shipwreck site may provide material insight into the political conditions existent in the British Admiralty during this period. James [1926:7-18) has written describing the strength and organization of the Royal Navy at the end of the Seven Years War (1755-1762) and its subsequent dissipation between 1771 and 1778 through mismanagement and corruption under Lord Sandwich's control of the Admiralty. Construction of the Culloden occurred during the period that Admiralty corruption was at its height. Therefore, the Culloden may reflect in material terms corrupt practices plaguing England's shipyards at the time. Construction shortcuts and the manufacturing of parts that do not m e e t specifications have long characterized the defense industry of all nations. The Culloden shipwreck site may provide data illustrating this activity.^[5]

H.M.S. CULLODEN Shipwreck Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Added to NRHP:	March 5, 1979
NRHP Reference#:	79003795

[edit] References

v • d • e New York in the American Revolutionary War Pre-war Sons of Liberty 1770 Battle of Golden Hill 1775 Capture of Fort Ticonderoga – Invasion of Canada 1776 New York and New Jersey campaign – Battle of Long Island – New York Prison Ships Begin – Landing at Kip's Bay – Battle of Harlem Heights – Great Fire of New York – Execution of Nathan Hale – Battle of Valcour Island – Battle of Pell's Point – Battle of White Plains – Battle of Fort Washington 1777 Meigs Raid – Saratoga campaign – Battle of Ticonderoga – Battle of Hubbardton – Battle of Fort Ann – Battle of Oriskany – Battle of Saratoga – Battle of Freeman's Farm – Battle of Bemis Heights 1778 Setauket Spy Ring Launched – Battle of Cobleskill – West Point established – Cherry Valley massacre 1779 Battle of Stony Point – Sullivan Expedition – Battle of Newtown 1780 First Purple Heart – André Capture Reveals Traitor Benedict Arnold 1781 HMS Culloden Runs Aground at Montauk – Washington Calls Off Invasion of New York to Support Yorktown 1782 Washington's Headquarters at Newburgh – Newburgh letter – British Evacuate New York – Washington's Farewell to His Officers