Sultan was launched on 23 December 1775, an event celebrated at the
Three Cups, Harwich. She was taken to
Chatham Dockyard where she was completed between 23 February 1776 and 3 November 1777. First commissioned under Captain John Wheelock in August 1777, she was part of a fleet that sailed for
New York on 9 June the following year. Comprising 13 ships-of-the-line and a frigate, these reinforcements for the war in America, under the command of Rear-Admiral
John Byron, had been delayed for some months due to a shortage of manpower. On 11 September 1778,
Sultan joined Richard Howe's fleet, blockading the French in
Boston.
Battle of Grenada Fielding was later replaced by Captain
Alan Gardner under whom
Sultan fought at the
Battle of Grenada on 6 July. Admiral Byron had been notified of the island's loss and was moving to recapture it when he received word that the French had since taken Grenada. He immediately turned his convoy to meet them. Of his twenty-one ships-of-the-line, he initially left three to guard the convoy and, hoping to attack quickly before the French had time to assemble, sent the remainder on a general chase of the enemy fleet as it left its anchorage. Fifteen of the twenty-five French ships had already formed line-of-battle when
Sultan, leading the charge, with and arrived. Far ahead of their compatriots they were forced to endure the brunt of the French fire, without being able to bring their own guns to bear. The rest of the British fleet, while attempting to form line, engaged discontinuously and, outnumbered, was badly mauled in the disorganised attack. The British had 183 men killed and 346 wounded in the battle. The loss aboard
Sultan was 16 killed and 39 wounded.
Action off Monte Cristi In June 1780,
Sultan was part of
William Cornwallis's small squadron, comprising two 74s, two 64s, a 50-gun ship and a frigate, sent by the Commander-in-Chief of the Jamaica Station,
Admiral Hyde Parker, to accompany a British merchant fleet bound for
England. Having taken the convoy as far as
Bermuda, Cornwallis was returning when, on 20 June, a fleet of French transports and its escort were seen off
Monte Cristi. The French fleet, commanded by
Admiral Charles de Ternay was on its way to Rhode Island with 6,000 troops. On seeing the British approach, de Ternay had his seven escort ships – An 80-gun, two 74s and four 64s, form a column which then bore down on the enemy. In response Cornwallis ordered his ships into a line-of-battle, with
Sultan in second position. After a brief exchange of fire, the inferior British force broke off the engagement and the French continued on their way. By December that year
Sultan was back in England undergoing a refit and recoppering at
Plymouth. The works took until April following and cost £11,914.2.10d. At 11:00, the French, having been on a parallel tack, turned towards the British line with each ship steering for its opposite number. Suffren directed his extra ship to attack the rear from the other side. The French line was bowed however and it was the central British ships which bore the brunt of the attack. At 15:40, both fleets were running out of searoom and tacked to avoid running foul of the shore. After working his way clear, at 17:40 Hughes anchored his fleet to make repairs. The French anchored at 20:00, away, to do likewise. Each side had had 137 men killed and, in addition, the British had 430 wounded and the French, 357. It was a week before either fleet was ready to sail again; the French finished their repairs first and left on 19 April, the British a few days later. Hughes' ships put into Trincomalee on 22 April. On 23 June, they left for Negapatam. and at 15:00, with a
monsoon approaching, Hughes' ships sailed out, heading south, to steal the
weathergauge. When dawn came the following morning, the British were some to windward of the French fleet, which had anchored during the night. At 06:00, Suffren ordered his ships to get under way but found that one of his 64s,
Ajax, was unable to comply, having lost a mast during the previous night's storm. This made the fleets numerically equal. With the wind from the south-west, both fleets lined up on the starboard tack with the French to
leeward. Just before 11:00 the lines began to converge but as in the battle on 12 April, and indeed as was the case in most engagements, the opposing forces did not sail a parallel course and the ships in the van began a much closer action than those towards the rear. The fourth ship in the French line therefore was badly damaged in the opening exchanges and, with one of its masts brought down, was forced to retire. The majority turned away from the engagement but six ships, four British and two French turned in towards one another.
Sultan, one of the ships in the ensuing melee, may have been responsible for bringing down the mast of
Brilliant before joining two other British ships in an action against the 64-gun
Sévère. Outnumbered,
Sévère surrendered. The British ships ceased firing and
Sultan turned away to rejoin her fleet. With Suffren now approaching in the 74-gun
Héros,
Sévère ran up her colours and fired into ''Sultan's'' stern, causing considerable damage. By 13:30 the battle was all but over; each side regrouped and by 18:00 had anchored some apart, to effect repairs.
Trincomalee Hughes had returned to
Madras by 20 July but having anticipated an attack on Trincomalee, left on 20 August. The British reached the port on 2 September to find the place had fallen two days earlier. The next morning, as the British approached, Suffren's force of 14 ships-of-the-line, put to sea. Hughes had also been reinforced, by the 64-gun
Sceptre, bringing his number up to twelve. Having poorly executed the manoeuvres, the French attack was disjointed. with a distant engagement occurring at the front and rear of the line. Towards the centre however, a heavy close-action took place, initially with
Sultan,
Superb,
Burford,
Eagle,
Hero and
Monarca against
Héros,
Illustre and
Ajax. By the time
Brillant and
Artésien arrived in support of their French comrades,
Ajax had been so badly damaged, she was forced to withdraw. At 17:30 the wind changed, allowing the French van to engage. The British ships at the centre, now outnumbered by a fresh enemy force, received heavy fire. The battle finished when it became too dark to continue. Both sides remained in the vicinity until the following morning when the French sailed for Trincomalee, and the British for Madras. At the end of the fight, the British were left with 51 dead and 283 wounded, the French 82 dead and 255 wounded. Watt was one of those killed at Trincomalee. He was replaced by Captain
Andrew Mitchell who commanded
Sultan at the
Battle of Cuddalore on 20 June 1783. The condition of the British fleet, following the Battle of Trincomalee, was such that Hughes did not think it would survive the monsoon in the open waters around Madras. After repairs and revictualing therefore, he moved his ships to
Bombay. It was 15 November before the fleet was ready to leave and the journey took upwards of two months, during which time Hughes moved his flag to
Sultan. In April 1783, Hughes' ships were sent in support of a land-based attack on Cuddalore.
Cuddalore A British force marched from Madras and laid siege to Cuddalore on 7 June 1783. Hughes fleet of 18 ships-of-the-line, cruised to the south and covered the transports as they landed supplies. On hearing of the attack, on 10 June, Suffren set sail from Trincomalee with 15 ships-of-the-line and on 13 June, discovered the British fleet at anchor off
Parangipettai. On seeing the French, Hughes had his ships get under way and set about trying to obtain the weathergauge in the light and variable wind. Suffren, battling the same conditions, spent the next four days getting to Cuddalore, where he supplemented his crews with 1,200 French troops before leaving on 18 June. A steady wind on 20 June allowed the opposing fleets to engage. Both fleets formed a line on the port tack, heading north. The battle continued for three hours, during which time the British losses were 99 dead and 434 wounded and the French, 182 dead and 386 wounded. When darkness fell, the British hove-to while the French fleet continued on the same tack, anchoring the next morning, north of the city. In addition to the dead and wounded, Hughes had lost 1,100 men to scurvy. With crews depleted and several ships disabled, the British retreated to Madras on 22 June, arriving three days later. The siege continued without them until 29 June when a British ship brought news of peace. ==Fate==