32 SIR JOHN WILLIAMS (English, fl. 1760s-1780s), 1775 A Draught for Building a Sloop of 14 Carriage Guns [HMS Hornet]
Ink and pencil on laid paper (two heavy sheets joined), 13 ½ x 38 in.; inscribed in upper right: “Navy Office/ 13th Novr. 1775/A Draught for Building a Sloop of 14 Carriage Guns/By Messrs. Perry & Co. in pursuance of an Order/from the Right Honble. the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. 30th. Octr. 1775/ [with breakdown of ship dimensions...and signed] “Williams”; conservation-mounted in gilded, custom-made, reproduction frame. The HMS Hornet was one of 25 ship-sloops built between 1766 and 1780 of the form now known as the “Swan Class” (named after the first sloop launched in 1766) and designed by shipwright (later Sir) John Williams, who became Surveyor of the Navy in 1771. She was authorized to be built by Messrs. Perry and Company of Blackwall on 30 October 1775; the keel laid the following month and vessel launched on 19 March 1776. Her dimensions and tonnage were as follows: length of upper deck, 96 ft. 7 in.; length of keel, 78 ft. 10 in.; beam of 26 ft. 9 in.; and 300-ton displacement. Swan class sloops-of-war were armed with 14 (later 16) sixpounder cannon and 14 swivel guns and had a crew of 125 men and officers (full complement). Only three sloops of this class had been authorized prior to the outbreak of hostilities with the American colonies in 1775, the remainder were all of wartime construction and expediency. A successful design, these sloops fulfilled the Admiralty’s urgent wartime need for warships of relatively shallow draft, maneuverability and speed, capable of effectively dealing with the typical enemy cruisers and privateers encountered along the North American coast and in the West Indies. The HMS Hornet served on the West Indies station during her first commission, taking a number of American vessels, and later served on the North American and European stations. After a successful career of fifteen years, she was sold out of service in 1791. This draught of her lines and profile is the only surviving plan of the Hornet, although a few plans for other Swan class sloops can be found in the Admiralty Plans Collection at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich (copies of which accompany the original). $8000-10,000
33 A FLINTLOCK TOWER PATTERN 1715/1778 SEA SERVICE PISTOL Round, plain, smoothbore 12 in. L barrel of 0.58 caliber bore, with centered Ordnance view and proof marks near breech and crown on tang; a plain, flat, beveled lock with plain, flat, reinforced cock, and unbridled pan, with ‘crown/GR’ before cock and inspection stamp under pan, with ‘TOWER’ across the tail; figured walnut, full stock with regulation brass mountings of butt-cap, triggerguard, sideplate and ramrod pipe, with original(?) brass-tipped ramrod and iron belt-hook attached to sideplate. Setup marks inside ramrod channel, ‘WB’ behind sideplate, and “crown/6” inspection stamp on right side of butt above tail of triggerguard. All iron parts with pleasing, dark ‘attic’ patina and wood with use dents and marks, a small chip to molding before lockplate, a one inch crack from rear barrel pin on right side of forestock and another at front barrel pin on left. Lock in good working order. A very nice specimen of Revolutionary War pistol that is becoming harder to find. $3500-4500
23