HMS Newcastle
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There have been eight ships that have borne the name HMS Newcastle in the Royal Navy, all serving her nation with distinction. Newcastle's motto is "Fortitudino Vinco" (I conquer through strength), and though the current Newcastle is one of the original Type 42s, she still is an imposing ship for any would-be aggressor.
- The first Newcastle was built in 1653 as a fourth-rate frigate of 54 guns. In 1655, she had her first action when, along with fourteen other warships, she sailed into Porto Farina in Algiers to engage Barbary Pirates. This action resulted in the destruction of the entire pirate fleet, which won the Newcastle lineage its first battle honour. In 1657 she took part in Admiral Blake's daring attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife. During the Revolution of 1688, the Newcastle, commanded by George Churchill, defected to William of Orange, (later King William III,) along with most of the English navy. In 1703, after many years of skirmishes and battles with such nations as France, the Netherlands and Spain, not to mention the Barbary Pirates, Newcastle came to a tragic end, being sunk, not in battle, but by a storm off Spithead.
- The second Newcastle was built in 1704 at Sheerness, also as a fourth-rate 54-gun frigate. The following year, she gained the first battle honour of her career at Marbella, attacking French convoys. The rest of her career was mainly spent in the Caribbean and Mediterranean before she was sold in 1746.
- The third Newcastle was built at Portsmouth in 1750. Her first actions were off Madras (now known as Chennai) during the Seven Years' War assisting the legendary Clive of India in his campaigns in India. She saw numerous skirmishes with the French Navy throughout her relatively short career. She came to an equally cruel end as her predecessor, when, in 1761, she was sunk in a cyclone.
- The fourth Newcastle was built to fill a requirement for fast frigates to deploy against the Americans during the War of 1812. Though larger and carrying more powerful guns than her predecessors, Newcastle had a far more mundane and inactive career eventually being sold for scrap in Liverpool in 1850.
- The fifth Newcastle, a screw frigate, meaning she was able to use both sail and steam for propulsion. She was launched in 1860 at Deptford. She had quite a large displacement of 4,020 tonnes and an armament of 31 guns. Her most active duty during her career, was as part of the Flying Squadron of 1874–1877. She spent the rest of her career as a powder hulk in Devonport until 1929 when she was finally broken up.
- The sixth Newcastle was commissioned in 1910 as a Bristol-class light cruiser of 4,900 tonnes with 2 x 6 inch (152 mm) guns and 10 x 4 inch (102 mm) guns. The Bristol-class were potentially the first true cruiser class to enter the Royal Navy, since previous cruisers had basically been fast or second class battleships. She spent most of her career in the China Station, being involved in operations during the Shanghai Rebellion in 1913. When war broke out in 1914 she bombarded Yap, prior to deploying to Valparaíso to search for the armed merchant raider SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich. In January 1916, Newcastle captured the German ship Mazatlan. In 1917 was attached to the Colombo Patrol. Her final duty was in South America, patrolling the waters there until World War I came to a close. She was sold in 1921. All of the Bristol Class met a similar fate throughout the 1920s.
- The seventh Newcastle was a Southampton-class cruiser launched by Her Grace the Duchess of Northumberland. She participated in World War II and the Korean War. She was sold for scrap in 1958.
- The eighth Newcastle is a Type 42 (Batch 1) destroyer. She has served in many of the Royal Navy's operations, being deployed across the world. The Newcastle was decommissioned on 1 February 2005 and placed into inactive reserve.
Battle honours
Porto Farina (1655), Santa Cruz (1657), Lowestoft (1665), Orfordness (1666), Schooneveld (1673), Texel (1673), Marbella (1705), Sadras (1758), Negapatam (1758), Porto Novo (1759), Spartivento (1940), Burma (1944–1945), Korea (1952–1953)
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