View source for HMS Royal George (1756)

{{short description| 100-gun first-rate Royal Navy ship of the line (1756) }}
{{other ships|HMS Royal George}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image   = John Cleveley the Elder, The Royal George at Deptford Showing the Launch of The Cambridge (1757).jpg
| Ship caption = HMS ''Royal George'' (right) shown fictitiously as already afloat during the launch of [[HMS Cambridge (1755)|HMS ''Cambridge'']] in 1755. Painted by [[John Cleveley the Elder]] in 1757.}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header         =
| Ship country        = Great Britain
| Ship flag           = [[File:Naval Ensign of Great Britain (1707-1800).svg|62px]]
| Ship name           = HMS ''Royal George''
| Ship ordered        = 29 August 1746
| Ship builder        = [[Woolwich Dockyard]]
| Ship laid down      = 8 January 1747{{inconsistent|text says 1746}}
| Ship launched       = 18 February 1756
| Ship acquired       =
| Ship commissioned   = October 1755 (before launch)
| Ship decommissioned =
| Ship in service     =
| Ship out of service =
| Ship renamed        =
| Ship struck         =
| Ship reinstated     =
|Ship notes=*Participated in:
*[[Battle of Quiberon Bay]]
*[[Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780)|Battle of Cape St Vincent]]
| Ship captured =
| Ship fate     = Foundered, 29 August 1782, at Spithead
| Ship status   =

}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header       =
| Header caption    = <ref name="Lavery, SoLv1 p173">Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p173.</ref>
| Ship class        = [[1745 Establishment]] 100-gun [[first-rate]] [[ship of the line]]
| Ship tons burthen = 2047 [[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]]
| Ship length       =*{{convert|178|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} (gundeck)
*{{convert|143|ft|5.5|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (keel)
| Ship beam         = {{convert|51|ft|9.5|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
| Ship draught      =
| Ship hold depth   = {{convert|21|ft|6|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
| Ship sail plan    = [[Full-rigged ship]]
| Ship propulsion   = Sails
| Ship complement   =
| Ship armament     = *100 guns:
*Gundeck: 28 × 42 pdrs
*Middle gundeck: 28 × 24 pdrs
*Upper gundeck: 28 × 12 pdrs
*Quarterdeck: 12 × 6 pdrs
*Forecastle: 4 × 6 pdrs
| Ship notes =
}}
|}

'''HMS ''Royal George''''' was a [[ship of the line]] of the [[Royal Navy]]. A [[first-rate]] with 100 guns [[three-decker|on three decks]], she was the largest warship in the world at the time of her launch on 18 February 1756. Construction at [[Woolwich Dockyard]] had taken ten years.

The ship saw immediate service during the [[Seven Years' War]], including the [[Raid on Rochefort]] in 1757. She was Admiral [[Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke|Sir Edward Hawke]]'s [[flagship]] at the [[Battle of Quiberon Bay]] in 1759. The ship was [[laid up]] following the conclusion of the war in 1763, but was reactivated in 1777 for the [[American Revolutionary War]]. She then served as Rear Admiral [[Robert Digby (Royal Navy officer)|Robert Digby]]'s flagship at the [[Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780)|Battle of Cape St Vincent]] in 1780.

''Royal George'' sank on 29 August 1782 whilst anchored at [[Spithead]] off [[Portsmouth]]. The ship was intentionally rolled so maintenance could be performed on the hull, but the roll became unstable and out of control; the ship took on water and sank. More than 800 lives were lost, making it one of the most deadly maritime disasters in British [[territorial waters]].

Several attempts were made to raise the vessel, both for salvage and because she was a major hazard to navigation in the [[Solent]]. In 1782, [[Charles Spalding]] recovered fifteen 12-pounder guns using a [[diving bell]] of his own design. From 1834 to 1836, [[Charles Anthony Deane|Charles]] and [[John Deane (inventor)|John Deane]] recovered more guns using a [[diving helmet]] they had invented. In 1839 [[Charles Pasley]] of the [[Royal Engineers]] commenced operations to break up the wreck using barrels of gunpowder. Pasley's team recovered more guns and other items between 1839 and 1842. In 1840, they destroyed the remaining structure of the wreck in an explosion which shattered windows several miles away in Portsmouth and [[Gosport]].

==Service==
[[File:Model Royal George.jpg|thumb|Stern of ''Royal George'': 1779 painting of a model by [[Joseph Marshall (painter)|Joseph Marshall]] at the [[National Maritime Museum]], Greenwich]]
Due to problems encountered during the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] (1740–48), the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] attempted to modernise British ship designs with the [[1745 Establishment]]. On 29 August 1746, the Admiralty ordered construction of a 100-gun [[first rate]] of the new design, to be named ''Royal Anne''. She was [[laid down]] at [[Woolwich Dockyard]] in 1746{{inconsistent|infobox says Jan 1747}} but was unfinished when the war ended in 1748, causing construction to slow. The ship was renamed ''Royal George'' while under construction. She was not completed until 1756, during the [[Diplomatic Revolution]], a few months before the outbreak of the [[Seven Years' War]] (1756–63). The ship was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] in October 1755, before she was ready to launch, with her first commander being Captain Richard Dorrill. She was launched on 18 February 1756.<ref name="Lavery, SoLv1 p173" /><ref name="rnm">{{cite web|url=http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheet_RoyalGeorge.htm |title=The Loss of HMS Royal George &#124; Online Information Bank &#124; Research Collections &#124; Royal Naval Museum at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard |publisher=Royalnavalmuseum.org |access-date=2011-09-05}}</ref> The largest warship in the world at the time, she displaced more than 2,000 tons and was the "eighteenth-century equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction".<ref name="Booth2007">{{cite book|author=Tony Booth|title=Admiralty Salvage in Peace and War 1906 – 2006: Grope, Grub and Tremble|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kNuwBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1|date=6 October 2007|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-78337-470-0|page=1}}</ref>
[[File:HMS 'Royal George', by Joseph Marshall LW SCMU 1864 0013 0001.jpg|thumb|Bow of the ''Royal George'', by Marshall at the [[Science Museum, London]]]]
''Royal George'' joined the [[Western Squadron]] (also known as the Channel Fleet) under Admiral [[Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke|Sir Edward Hawke]] in May 1756, just as the [[Seven Years' War]] began.<ref name="Winfield">{{cite book |last=Winfield |title=British Warships in the Age of Sail|page=5}}</ref> Captain Dorrill was succeeded by Captain [[John Campbell (Royal Navy officer)|John Campbell]] in July 1756, who was in turn succeeded by Captain Matthew Buckle in early 1757.<ref name="Winfield"/>  ''Royal George'' was used as the [[flagship]] of Vice-Admiral [[Edward Boscawen]] in this period, including flying his flag during the [[Raid on Rochefort]] in September 1757.<ref name="Winfield"/> Captain [[Piercy Brett]] took command in 1758, and ''Royal George'' became the flagship of Admiral [[George Anson, 1st Baron Anson|Lord George Anson]] in the same year. Brett was succeeded by Captain [[Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport|Alexander Hood]] in November 1758. The former captain, Richard Dorrill, returned to command the ship the following year, until being [[wikt:invalid#Verb|invalided]] in June 1759.<ref name="Winfield"/> Dorrill's replacement was another former captain, John Campbell, who commanded her during the blockade of the French fleet at [[Brest, France|Brest]].<ref name="Winfield"/> She became [[Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke|Sir Edward Hawke]]'s flagship in early November 1759, when his previous flagship, {{HMS|Ramillies|1749|2}}, went into dock for repairs. Hawke commanded the fleet from ''Royal George'' at the [[Battle of Quiberon Bay]]<ref name="rnm" /> on 20 November 1759, where she sank the French ship [[French ship Superbe|''Superbe'']].

''Royal George'' was commanded by Captain William Bennett from March 1760, and she was present at the [[fleet review]] at [[Spithead]] in July that year.<ref name="Winfield"/> John Campbell returned to command his old ship in August 1760, though Bennett was captain again by December. ''Royal George'' joined Admiral [[Charles Hardy]]’s fleet in the Autumn of 1762. With peace approaching, and the enormous cost of crewing and provisioning such a large ship, the crew were [[paid off]] on 18 December 1762.<ref name="Winfield"/> The ship was [[laid up in ordinary]] at the conclusion of the war, along with most other first rates in the fleet. Whilst laid up, ''Royal George'' underwent a major repair at [[Plymouth]] between 1765 and 1768.<ref name="Winfield"/>

The ship was reactivated after the outbreak of the [[American War of Independence]] (1775–83), being re-fitted for service at [[Portsmouth]] between May 1778 and April 1779. She re-commissioned under Captain Thomas Hallum in July 1778, with command passing to Captain [[John Colpoys]] in November that year. ''Royal George'' was again assigned to the Channel Fleet, where she was flagship of Vice-Admiral [[Sir Robert Harland, 1st Baronet|Sir Robert Harland]].<ref name="Winfield"/> Vice-Admiral [[George Darby]] briefly replaced Harland in June 1779, then from August 1779 to December 1781 she was the flagship of Rear-Admiral [[John Lockhart-Ross|Sir John Lockhart Ross]].<ref name="Winfield"/> Meanwhile, Captain Colpoys was replaced by Captain John Bourmaster in December 1779, and she joined Admiral [[George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney|Sir George Rodney's]] fleet in their [[Great Siege of Gibraltar#First naval relief|mission to relieve Gibraltar]]. Under Bourmaster, and flying Ross's flag, ''Royal George'' took part in the [[action of 8 January 1780|attack on the Caracas convoy]] on 8 January 1780, the [[Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780)|Battle of Cape St. Vincent]] on 16 January, and took part in the successful relief of Gibraltar three days later.<ref name="rnm" /><ref name="Winfield"/>

''Royal George'' returned to Britain with the rest of the fleet, and had her hull [[copper sheathing|coppered]] in April 1780. She returned to service that summer, serving with the Channel Fleet under Admiral [[Sir Francis Geary, 1st Baronet|Francis Geary]], and then George Darby again from the autumn.<ref name="Winfield"/> Both captain and admiral changed again in late 1781, Bourmaster being replaced by Captain Henry Cromwell, and Ross by Rear-Admiral [[Richard Kempenfelt]]. She served as part of [[Samuel Barrington]]'s squadron from April 1782, with Cromwell replaced by Captain [[Martin Waghorn]] in May.<ref name="Winfield"/> ''Royal George'' then joined the fleet under [[Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe|Richard Howe]].<ref name="Winfield"/>

==Loss==

[[File:1783, Royal George medallion.png|thumb|1783 [[medallion]] commemorating the sinking of ''Royal George'']]
[[File:RoyalGeorge-sunk.jpg|right|thumb|A contemporary illustration of ''Royal George'' resting at the bottom of the [[Solent]] with her masts sticking up from the surface]]
[[File:Sinking of Royal George 1782.jpg|thumb|Sinking of ''Royal George'']]
[[File:Loss of the Royal George, at Spithead (1871).jpg|thumb|Sinking of ''Royal George'']]

On 28 August 1782 ''Royal George'' was preparing to sail with Admiral Howe's fleet on [[Great Siege of Gibraltar#Final actions|another relief of Gibraltar]]. The ships were anchored at Spithead to take on supplies. Most of her complement were aboard ship, as were a large number of workmen to speed the repairs. There were also an estimated 200–300 relatives visiting the officers and men, 100–200 "ladies from the Point [at Portsmouth], who, though seeking neither husbands or fathers, yet visit our newly arrived ships of war", and a number of merchants and traders come to sell their wares to the seamen.<ref name="JT">{{cite book |last=Adkins & Adkins |title=Jack Tar|pages=161–3}}</ref> The reason most of her complement were aboard was because of fear of desertion: all shore leave had been canceled. Accordingly, every crew member then assigned to the vessel was aboard it when it sank, except for a detachment of sixty marines sent ashore that morning.<ref>{{cite book|first=Roy and Lesley|last=Adkins|page=xxiv|title=Gibraltar: The Greatest Siege in British History|year=2017|isbn=978-1-4087-0867-5}}</ref>
The exact number of the total crew on board is unknown, but is estimated to be around 1,200.<ref name="JT"/>{{Ref label|A|a|none}}

At seven o'clock on the morning of 29 August work on the hull was carried out and ''Royal George'' was [[Heeling force|heeled]] over by rolling the ship's starboard guns into the centreline of the ship. This caused the ship to tilt over in the water to port.<ref name="rnm" />  Further, the loading of a large number of casks of rum on the now-low port side created additional and, it turned out, unstable weight. The ship was heeled over too far, passing her [[centre of gravity]]. Realising that the ship was settling in the water, the ship's carpenter informed the lieutenant of the watch, Monin Hollingbery, and asked him to beat the drum to signal to the men to right the ship.  The officer refused.  As the situation worsened, the carpenter implored the officer a second time.  A second time he was refused.  The carpenter then took his concern directly to the ship's captain, who agreed with him and gave the order to move the guns back into position.  By this time, however, the ship had already taken on too much water through its port-side gun ports, and the drum was never sounded.  The ship tilted heavily to port, causing a sudden inrush of water and a burst of air out the starboard side. The barge along the port side which had been unloading the rum was caught in the masts as the ship turned, briefly delaying the sinking, but losing most of her crew.<ref name="JT"/> ''Royal George'' quickly filled with water and sank, taking with her around 900 people, including up to 300 women and 60 children who were visiting the ship in harbour. 255 people were saved, including eleven women and one child. Some escaped by running up the rigging, while others were picked up by boats from other vessels.<ref name="JT"/> Kempenfelt was writing in his cabin when the ship sank; the cabin doors had jammed because of the ship's heeling and he perished. Waghorn was injured and thrown into the water, but he was rescued.<ref name="rnm" />  The carpenter survived the sinking, but died less than a day later, never having regained consciousness. Hollingbery also survived.

Many of the victims were washed ashore at [[Ryde]], [[Isle of Wight]], where they were buried in a mass grave that stretched along the beach. This land was reclaimed in the development of a Victorian esplanade and is now occupied by the streets and properties of Ryde Esplanade and The Strand.<ref>''Portraits of the Isle of Wight'', P. Sanders, Kingsmead Press, Bath, 1979</ref>  In April 2009, Isle of Wight Council placed a new memorial plaque in the newly restored Ashley Gardens on Ryde Esplanade in memory of ''Royal George''. It is a copy of the original plaque unveiled in 1965 by [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Earl Mountbatten of Burma]], which was moved in 2006 to the Royal George Memorial Garden, also on the Esplanade.

A [[court-martial]] acquitted the officers and crew (many of whom had perished), blaming the accident on the "general state of decay of her timbers" and suggesting that the most likely cause of the sinking was that part of the frame of the ship gave way under the stress of the heel.<ref name="rnm" /> Most historians conclude that Hollingbery was most responsible for the sinking.<ref name="Tracy">{{Cite book|last=Tracy |title=Who's Who in Nelson's Navy |pages=131–2}}</ref> For example, naval historian Nicholas Tracy stated that Hollingbery allowed water to accumulate on the gundeck. The resulting [[free surface effect]] eventually compromised the ship's stability.<ref name="Tracy" /> Tracy concluded that an "alert officer of the watch would have prevented the tragedy&nbsp;..."<ref name="Tracy" />

This narrative was disputed by historian [[Hilary L. Rubinstein]] in 2020. Rubinstein declares Hollingbery innocent, placing blame on others{{who|date=June 2020}}, and argues that Kempenfelt may not have been trapped in his cabin.<ref>{{cite book|title=Catastrophe at Spithead: The Sinking of the Royal George|last1=Rubinstein|first1=Hilary L.|year=2020|author-link1=Hilary L. Rubinstein}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=June 2020}}

A fund was established by [[Lloyd's Coffee House]] to help the widows and children of the sailors lost in the sinking, which was the start of what eventually became the [[Lloyd's Patriotic Fund]].<ref name="JT" />  The accident was commemorated in verse by the poet [[William Cowper]]:

{{Poemquote
|text= Toll for the brave
The Brave that are no more,
All sunk beneath the wave,
Fast by their native shore.
|source= [[William Cowper]], 1782
|title= The Loss of the ''Royal George''
}}

==Salvage attempts==
===Initial attempts===

Several attempts were made to raise the vessel, both for salvage and because she was a major hazard to navigation, lying in a busy harbour at a depth of only {{convert|65|ft|abbr=on}}.
[[File:FMIB 33116 Wreck of the 'Royal George'.jpeg|thumb|Salvage of ''Royal George'']]

In 1782, [[Charles Spalding]] recovered six iron 12-pounder guns and nine brass 12-pounders using a [[diving bell]] of his design.<ref name="Dr. John Bevan Paper">{{cite journal|last=Bevan|first=Dr. John|title=Paper: Charles Spalding's Diving Bells|journal=Presented to a Meeting of the Historical Diving Society at Norwegian Underwater Institute, Bergen|date=5 November 2005}}</ref>

===Deane brothers (1834)===
No further work was carried out on the wreck until 1834, when [[Charles Anthony Deane]] and his brother [[John Deane (inventor)|John]], using the first air-pumped [[diving helmet]] which they had invented, began work. From 1834 to 1836 they recovered 7 iron 42-pounders, 18 brass 24-pounders and 3 brass 12-pounders for which he received salvage from the [[Board of Ordnance]]. The remaining guns were buried under mud and the timbers of the wreck and were unrecoverable.

It was during this operation that local fishermen asked the divers to investigate something on the seabed that their nets kept snagging. A dive by John Deane {{convert|1|km}} north east of ''Royal George'' revealed timbers and guns from ''[[Mary Rose]]'', the first time that its resting place had been located in centuries.<ref name="bbc" />

===Pasley (1839)===
[[Image:SirCharlesPasley.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Sir Charles Pasley]]

[[File:To Colonel C.W. Pasley, R.E.C.B. This print representing the submarine explosion of the large cylinder containing 2300 lbs of Powder against the wreck of H.M.S. Royal George, at Spithead, Sepr. 23rd 1839 R.S. Thomas, RMG PU5963.jpg|thumb|The submarine explosion of the large cylinder containing 2300 lbs of Powder against the wreck on 23 September 1839]]
In 1839 Major-General [[Charles Pasley]], at the time a colonel of the [[Royal Engineers]], commenced operations. Pasley had previously destroyed some old wrecks in the Thames to clear a channel using gunpowder charges; his plan was to break up the wreck of ''Royal George'' in a similar way and then salvage as much as possible using [[Underwater diving|divers]]. The charges used were made from oak barrels filled with gunpowder and covered with lead. They were initially detonated using chemical fuses, but this was later changed to an electrical system using a resistance-heated platinum wire to detonate the gunpowder.<ref>''The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge'', Vol III, (1847), London, Charles Knight, p.414.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42964869/|title = Clipped from Hampshire Telegraph and Naval Chronicle|newspaper = Hampshire Telegraph and Naval Chronicle|date = 30 September 1839|page = 4}}</ref>

Pasley's operation set many diving milestones, including the first recorded use of the [[buddy system]] in diving, when he ordered that his divers operate in pairs.<ref name="Booth2007">{{cite book|author=Tony Booth|title=Admiralty Salvage in Peace and War 1906 – 2006: Grope, Grub and Tremble|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kNuwBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1|date=6 October 2007|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-78337-470-0|page=1}}</ref>{{rp|9}} In addition, a Corporal Jones made the first emergency swimming ascent after his air line became tangled and he had to cut it free.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} A less fortunate milestone was the first medical account of a [[Barotrauma#Diving barotrauma|diver squeeze]] suffered by a Private Williams:{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} the early diving helmets used had no [[non-return valve]]s; this meant that if a hose became severed, the high-pressure air around the diver's head rapidly evacuated the helmet, causing tremendous negative pressure with extreme and sometimes life-threatening effects. At the [[British Association for the Advancement of Science]] meeting in 1842, [[John Richardson (naturalist)|Sir John Richardson]] described the [[Standard diving dress|diving apparatus]] and treatment of diver Roderick Cameron following an injury that occurred on 14 October 1841 during the salvage operations.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Richardson J |title=Abstract of the case of a diver employed on the wreck of the Royal George, who was injured by the bursting of the air-pipe of the diving apparatus. 1842 |journal=Undersea Biomed Res |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=63–4 |date=January 1991 |pmid=2021022 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/2729 |access-date=2008-06-19}}</ref>

In 1840, the use of controlled explosions to destroy the wreck continued through to September.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42966036/small_explosion_at_the_royal_george/|title = Small explosion at the Royal George, Spithead|newspaper = The Hampshire Advertiser|date = 5 September 1840|page = 3}}</ref> on an occasion that year the Royal Engineers set off a huge controlled explosion which shattered windows as far away as Portsmouth and Gosport.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-14691988 |title=BBC News – The wreck that revealed the Mary Rose |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date= 4 September 2011|access-date=2011-09-05}}</ref>

Meanwhile, Pasley had recovered 12 more guns in 1839, 11 more in 1840, and 6 in 1841. In 1842 he recovered only one iron 12-pounder, because he ordered the divers to concentrate on removing the hull timbers rather than search for guns. Other items recovered, in 1840, included the [[Ship's doctor|surgeon]]'s brass instruments, [[silk]] garments of [[satin]] weave "of which the silk was perfect", and pieces of leather; but no woollen clothing.<ref>The Times, London, article CS117993292 dated 12 Oct 1840, retrieved 30 Apr 2004.</ref> By 1843 the whole of the keel and the bottom timbers had been raised and the site was declared clear.<ref>{{Cite book | last=Percy | first=Sholto | author-link=Joseph Clinton Robertson | title=Iron: An Illustrated Weekly Journal for Iron and Steel Manufacturers | publisher=Knight and Lacey | year=1843 | volume=39 }}</ref>

==Surviving timbers and guns==
[[File:Blythe House, Science Museum 14 - HMS Royal George anchor cable.JPG|thumb|A section of the ship's 24-inch anchor cable, recovered from the wreck and now in the Science Museum store at [[Blythe House]]]]
A 24-pounder from the ship is part of the [[Royal Armouries]] collection and on display at [[Southsea Castle]].<ref name=Boxell1>{{cite book |title=The Ordnance of Southsea Castle |last=Boxell |first=A.L |year=2010 |publisher=Tricorn books |isbn=978-0-9562498-4-5|page=23}}</ref>

Several of the salvaged bronze cannon were melted down to form part of [[Nelson's Column]] in London's [[Trafalgar Square]]. The [[Corinthian capital]] is made of bronze elements, cast at the [[Royal Arsenal|Woolwich Arsenal]] foundry.  The bronze pieces, some weighing as much as {{convert|900|lb|kg}} are fixed to the column by the means of three large belts of metal lying in grooves in the stone.<ref>{{cite book |title=Curiosities of London |last=Timbs |first=John  |year=1858 |location=London |page=284 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8N1JAAAAIAAJ |access-date=27 October 2011}}</ref>
[[File:HMS Royal George memorial, Ryde, Isle of Wight, UK.jpg|thumb|Memorial at Ryde, Isle of Wight, commemorating the loss]]
Recovered materials were used to make a variety of souvenirs.<ref>{{cite web |title=A study group of five wooden souvenir items made from wood recovered from the wreck of H.M.S. Royal George (1782) |url=https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/a-study-group-of-five-wooden-souvenir-2046441-details.aspx |website=Christies.com |access-date=27 December 2018}}</ref> In the 1850s, timber from the ship was used to make the [[billiard table]] by [[John Thurston (inventor)|J. Thurston & Co.]] for the North Wing of [[Burghley House]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Welcome to Burghley visitor leaflet|publisher=www.burghley.co.uk}}</ref> Wood salvaged from the ''Royal George'' was also used to make the coffin for the famous menagerie owner [[George Wombwell]] who died in 1850<ref>J. L. Middlemiss, ''A Zoo on Wheels: Bostock and Wombwell's Menagerie'' (Burton on Trent: Dalebrook Publications, 1987), p.11</ref> and the covers of  ''A Narrative of the loss of the Royal George, at Spithead, August, 1782; including Tracey’s Attempt to raise her in 1783, also Col Pasley’s Operations in Removing the Wreck, by Explosions of Gunpowder, in 1839-40'' by Colonel Pasley.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Narrative of the loss of the Royal George, at Spithead, August, 1782 |url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/1059260/a-narrative-of-the-loss-of-the-royal-george-at-spithead-august-1782 |website=Rct.uk |publisher=Royal Collections Trust |access-date=13 December 2020}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{refbegin}}
'''a.''' {{Note label|A|a|none}} ''Royal George''{{'}}s usual complement was 867.<ref name="JT"/>

==Citations==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |first=Hilary L|last=Rubinstein|title=Catastrophe at Spithead: The Sinking of the Royal George|publisher=Seaforth|year=2020|isbn=9781526764997}}
*{{cite book |first=Roy|last=Adkins|author2=Adkins, Lesley |title=Jack Tar: The Extraordinary Lives of Ordinary Seamen in Nelson's Navy|publisher=Abacus|year=2009|isbn=978-0-349-12034-8}}
*{{cite book |first=Brian|last=Lavery|title=The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650–1850|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|year=2003|isbn=0-85177-252-8}}
*{{Cite book|first=Nicholas|last=Tracy|title=Who's Who in Nelson's Navy: 200 Naval Heroes|year=2006|publisher=Chatham Publishing|location=London|isbn=1-86176-244-5}}
*{{cite book |first=Rif|last=Winfield|title=[[British Warships in the Age of Sail|British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates]]|publisher=Seaforth|year=2007|isbn=978-1-84415-700-6}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |first= David |last= Hepper |title= British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859 |date= 1994 |isbn= 978-0948864308 }}
* {{cite book |first= John |last= Harris |title= Lost at Sea |date= 1990 |isbn= 978-0413635402 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|HMS Royal George (ship, 1756)}}
* [http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/ships/html/sh_078000_hmsroyalgeor.htm ''Royal George''] from [http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/ships/html/sh_000106_shipsofthewo.html Ships of the World: An Historical Encyclopedia]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110608211358/http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/prints/viewPrint.cfm?ID=PAD5961 Loss of the Royal George at Spithead, 1782]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110608211632/http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/prints/viewPrint.cfm?ID=PAD5960 Sinking of H.M.S. Royal George at Spithead Augt 29 1782]

{{1745 Establishment ships|1745}}
{{Underwater diving|prodiv}}
{{Authority control}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal George (1756)}}
[[Category:Ships of the line of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Solent]]
[[Category:Military history of Hampshire]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1782]]
[[Category:1756 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Woolwich]]
[[Category:Archaeology of shipwrecks]]
[[Category:Maritime archaeology]]
[[Category:Underwater archaeology]]
[[Category:1782 in Great Britain]]