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History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Dorsetshire
Builder	Winter, Southampton
Launched	8 December 1694
Fate	Sold, 1749
General characteristics as built
Class and type	80-gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1,176
Length	153 ft 4.5 in (46.7 m) (gundeck)
Beam	42 ft (12.8 m)
Depth of hold	18 ft (5.5 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	80 guns of various weights of shot
General characteristics after 1712 rebuild
Class and type	1706 Establishment 80-gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1,289
Length	156 ft (47.5 m) (gundeck)
Beam	43 ft 6 in (13.3 m)
Depth of hold	17 ft 8 in (5.4 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	80 guns: Gundeck: 26 × 32 pdrs Middle gundeck: 26 × 12 pdrs Upper gundeck: 24 × 6 pdrs Quarterdeck: 4 × 6 pdrs

HMS Dorsetshire, the first Royal Navy ship to be named after the county of Dorset, was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Southampton on 8 December 1694.

Dorsetshire came under the command of Edward Whitaker in 1704 and she was at the capture of Gibraltar (but out of commission). Whitaker then took the ship to play a part in the Battle of Málaga the same year.

She was rebuilt according to the 1706 Establishment at Portsmouth Dockyard, and relaunched on 20 September 1712. As built, Dorsetshire had carried her 80-gun armament on two decks, but during this rebuild they were redistributed over a third gundeck, although she continued to be classified as a third rate.

Dorsetshire continued to serve until 1749, when she was sold out of the navy.

Notes

1. ^ Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 163.
2. ^ Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 167.
3. J. K. Laughton, ‘Whitaker, Sir Edward (1660?–1735)’, rev. J. D. Davies, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 28 April 2013

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.

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