HMS Southsea Castle (1696)

HMS Southsea Castle was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by John Knowler of Redbridge (Southampton) in 1695/96.

She was the first vessel to bear the name Southsea Castle in the English and Royal Navy.

Construction and specifications
She was ordered on 3 May 1695 to be built under contract by John Knowler of Redbridge (Southampton). She was launched on 1 August 1696. Her dimensions were a gundeck of 106 ft with a keel of 88 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 373$6⁄94$ 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 1696-1697
She was commissioned in 1696 under the command of Captain Samuel Whitaker. In 1697 she was under Commander Thomas Legge to sail with a Virginia bound convoy.

Loss
She was wrecked on the Dove Sands off Hoylake (Wirral) on 15 September 1697.