English ship Happy Entrance (1619)

Happy Entrance[Note 1] was a middling ship of the English navy, built by Andrew Burrell at Deptford and launched in 1619.[1] King James I originally named the ship Buckingham's Entrance to mark the appointment of his favourite, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, as Lord High Admiral of England. But she was subsequently renamed.[2]

History
Royal Navy EnsignEngland
NameHappy Entrance
BuilderBurrell, Deptford
Launched1619
FateBurnt, 1658
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeMiddling ship
Length96 ft (29 m) (keel)
Beam32 ft 2 in (9.80 m)
Depth of hold13 ft 1 in (3.99 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship

During the Second English Civil War she served on the side of Parliament under the command of Richard Badiley. In April 1649, a party of seamen from Happy Entrance captured and burnt the Royalist ship Antelope at Hellevoetsluis in the Netherlands.[3] Antelope was then over 100 years old and was a veteran of the 1588 campaign against the Spanish Armada.[4]

Happy Entrance was present at the Battle of the Gabbard on the 2-3 June 1653, as part of the Blue Squadron. She was under the command of Captain Richard Newbery.

Happy Entrance was destroyed by fire in 1658.[1]

Notes

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  1. ^ The 'HMS' prefix was not used until the middle of the Eighteenth Century, but is sometimes applied retrospectively

Citations

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  1. ^ a b c Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p158.
  2. ^ Corbett, Julian Stafford. England in the Mediterranean. A study of the rise and influence of British power within the Straits, 1603-1713 ... With a map. pp. 74–75. OCLC 754149865.
  3. ^ Clowes, Royal Navy, vol. 2, p. 120.
  4. ^ Clowes, Royal Navy vol. 1, p. 580, 588-589.

References

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  • Clowes, William Laird: The Royal Navy. A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, vols. 1-2,1896-1898
  • 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.