Maritime record MKE129234 - Falklands Prize

Source (1) based on source (2), both naming the ship as FALKLAND'S PRIZE, and the date of loss as 19-DEC-1705:

Ex. (LA) SEINE.

Originally the French warship LA SEINE, captured 24-AUG-1704 by the English man o'war DREADNOUGHT, off the Azores, was taken into Royal Navy service as a 5th rate warship, and which was driven from her moorings in the Downs during a hurricane, when all her cables parted. She was then deliberately run ashore near Sandwich in order to save the lives of the crew. She subsquently broke up, but her remains were sold for salvage on 11-MAR-1706. (2)

FALKLAND PRIZE: possibly French LA SEINE, built 1688, Rochefort, a Fourth Rate of 54 guns. Length 132 feet 6 inches x keel length 112 feet x breadth 35 feet x depth 15 feet 1 inch, 732 tons. Taken 1704 by FALKLAND and others. 19-DEC-1705: run ashore in a storm in Sandwich Bay; wreck sold for breaking up. (3)

FALKLAND PRIZE, Fifth Rate of 36 guns, 732 BM, 133 feet 5 inches x 35 feet, ex. French LA SEINE captured by DREADNOUGHT off the Azores on 24-AUG-1704. Wrecked 19-DEC-1705 in Sandwich Bay; salved and sold 11-MAR-1706. (4)

All secondary sources give the date of loss as 19-DEC-1705, whereas the original source below indicates the date as 21-DEC-1705:

'22nd December, 1705: Her Majesty's Ship the FALKLAND PRIZE was yesterday driven on shore below Sandwich Castle, but all the men were saved.' (5)

SEINE. Described as a flute of 44 guns built by Masson at Rochefort in 1698, of 640 tonnes, and dimensions of 136 x 33 x 13 feet. Taken by HMS DREADNOUGHT near the Azores and taken into the service of the Royal Navy, as HMS FALKLAND PRIZE of 732 tons 133.5 x 35 feet. Wrecked at Sandwich Bay 19-DEC-1705, but salved, and sold on 11-MAR-1706. [Sourced from a Navy List of 1704]. (6)

Built: 1688 (3); 1698 (6)
Builder: Masson (6)
Where Built: Rochefort (3)(6)
Commanding Officer: Captain William Fairborne RN (1)(2)
Armament: originally pierced for 44 guns: 22 x 12pdr and 22 x 6pdr (6); 36 (4); 48 guns (1)(2); 54 - gun deck, 22 x 12pdr; upper deck 22 x 6pdr; quarter-deck 8 x 6pdr; and forecastle 2 x 6pdr (3)
Owner: Royal Navy [all sources]

Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss

<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.

<3> The Sailing Navy List: all the ships of the Royal Navy built, purchased and captured 1688-1860 (Monograph). SKE6712.

<4> J J Colledge, 1989, Ships of the Royal Navy, volume 1 (Bibliographic reference). SKE6390.

<5> Peter Higginbotham, 2000, The Workhouse (Website). SKE56079.

<6> Lloyd's, 1969, Lloyd's list 1741-1945 (Bibliographic reference). SKE6342.