HMS Princess (1740)

The taking of the Princessa a Spanish Man of War, 8 April 1740, by his Majesties Ships the Lenox, Kent and Orford (incorrectly noted as Oxford by the artist), an engraving of a work by Peter Monamy
History
Spain
Name	Princesa
Builder	Guarnizo, Santander
Launched	1730
Captured	8 April 1740 (19 April New Style), by the Royal Navy
Great Britain
Name	HMS Princess
Acquired	8 April 1740
Fate	Sold for breaking up on 30 December 1784
General characteristics
Class and type	70-gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1,709 3/94 bm
Length	165 ft 1 in (50.3 m) (overall) 130 ft 3 in (39.7 m) (keel)
Beam	49 ft 8 in (15.1 m)
Depth of hold	22 ft 3 in (6.78 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	480
Armament	Lower deck: 28 × 32-pdrs Upper deck: 28 × 18-pdrs Quarterdeck: 12 × 9-pdrs Forecastle: 2 × 9-pdrs

HMS Princess was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She had served for ten years as the Princesa for the Spanish Navy, until her capture off Cape Finisterre in 1740 during the War of the Austrian Succession.

After being chased down and captured by three British ships, she was acquired for service by the Royal Navy. Her design and fighting qualities excited considerable interest, and sparked a series of increases in the dimensions of British warships. She went on to serve under a number of commanders in several theatres of the War of the Austrian Succession, including the Mediterranean, where she was at the Battle of Toulon, and in the Caribbean and off the North American coast. She was then laid up and being assessed, was not reactivated for service during the Seven Years' War. She was instead reduced to a hulk at Portsmouth, in which capacity she lasted out both the Seven Years' War and the American War of Independence, being sold for breaking up in 1784, shortly after the end of the latter conflict, after a career in British service lasting 44 years.