HMS Hastings (1695)

HMS Hastings was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by Thomas Ellis of Shoreham in 1694/95. She spent her brief career on counter piracy patrols and trade protection duties in Home Waters. She was wrecked in a storm off Waterford in December 1697.

She was the first vessel to carry the name Hastings in the English and Royal Navy.

Construction and specifications
She was ordered on 2 April 1694 to be built under contract by Thomas Ellis of Shoreham. She was launched on 5 February 1695. Her dimensions were a gundeck of 108 ft with a keel of 90 ft for tonnage calculation with a breadth of 28 ft and a depth of hold of 10 ft. Her builder’s measure tonnage was calculated as 383$90⁄94$ tons (burthen).

The gun armament initially was four demi-culverins on the lower deck (LD) with two pair of guns per side. The upper deck (UD) battery would consist of between twenty and twenty-two 6-pounder guns with ten or eleven guns per side. The gun battery would be completed by four 4-pounder guns on the quarterdeck (QD) with two to three guns per side.

Commissioned Service 1695-1697
HMS Hastings was commissioned on 18 June 1695 under the command of Captain John Draper for service in the West Indies. She returned to Home Waters with a convoy. She was assigned to Irish Waters in 1696. In 1697 she was escorting timber ships to Kinsale, Ireland.

Loss
She was wrecked in a storm off Waterford on 10 December 1697 with the loss of all hands.