English ship Antelope (1651) (original) (raw)

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56-gun great frigate of the navy of the Commonwealth of England

History
Commonwealth Navy EnsignEngland
Name Antelope
Ordered 8 August 1651
Builder Woolwich Dockyard
Launched Spring 1652
Fate Wrecked, 30 September 1652
General characteristics [1]
Class and type 56-gun second rate great frigate
Tons burthen 828 tons
Length 120 ft (36.6 m) (keel)
Beam 36 ft (11.0 m)
Depth of hold 16 ft (4.9 m)
Propulsion Sails
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Complement 250 (or possibly more)
Armament 56 guns of various weights of shot

The Antelope was a 56-gun great frigate of the navy of the Commonwealth of England, launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1652. Notwithstanding the term "frigate", this was the largest of the warships ordered by the Commonwealth, and was eventually classed as a second rate.

The Antelope was fitted out in July 1652, and sailed from Woolwich in August. She was commissioned under Captain Andrew Ball, and deployed to the Danish coast to convoy merchantmen from the Sound. She sailed for home on 27 September but was wrecked off Jutland at around 3 o'clock in the morning of 30 September 1652, in bad weather. Most of her crew were saved.

  1. ^ Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p159.