A bought-in vessel, converted to a fireship, which was in the process of shifting her berth within the Sheerness dockyard close to the ANN, when the latter ship blew up. An eyewitness account of the loss of the HESTOR said that the fireship was literally blown 30 yards sideways, then `entirely shaken to pieces.' Of the thirteen men on board, a mixture of seamen, officers and dockyard hands, three were killed. (2)

Source (2) interprets the date of purchase as the date of building.

Purchased: 1673
Captain: Captain William Pooley, RN
Lives Lost: 3
Owner: Royal Navy
Armament: 6 guns

Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss

Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index:
SRN.Vol.1 p265; SNR.Occ.Pub.No.5 Part 1 p34 (No.543)

<1> British Warship losses in the Age of Sail 1650-1859 (Monograph). SKE6713.

<2> Larn, Richard and Bridget, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 2 : Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Sussex, Kent (Mainland), Kent (Downs), Goodwin Sands, Thames (Bibliographic reference). SKE31910.