HMS Somerset (1731)
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The second HMS Somerset was an 80 gun ship of the line and was launched at Woolwich in 1731. Lord George Rodney, later to triumph at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782, served in HMS Somerset in 1739 while preparing for his Lieutenant’s exams. The ship saw action at the Battle of Toulon in 1744. Toulon was an infamous engagement and consequently no battle honour was awarded. A combined Franco-Spanish fleet that had been blockaded in Toulon for two years finally put to sea, led by Admiral de la Bruyere de Court. The blockading British fleet under Admiral Thomas Matthews was roughly the same size as the Franco-Spanish fleet but fearing that the enemy fleet movement was designed to force him out of position and allow a troop convoy to reach Italy, Matthews ordered his fleet to attack before forming up into line. Admiral Richard Lestock, Matthew’s second in command, appears to have deliberately misunderstood his orders, and the resulting battle was indecisive, with the British taking more damage than they inflicted. Matthews was dismissed from the Navy for failing to obey permanent fighting instructions for battle. HMS Somerset was broken up in 1746.
