View source for John Williams (Surveyor of the Navy)

'''Sir John Williams''' (1700&ndash;c.1784) was a British shipbuilder and designer who rose to be [[Surveyor of the Navy]], the highest position in British naval architecture.
==Life==
[[File:Heresies of Sea Power - The Royal Sovereign.png|thumb|330px|HMS Royal Sovereign]]
[[File:Thomas Whitcombe - HMS Crescent, under the command of Captain James Saumarez, capturing the French frigate Réunion off Cherbourg, 20 October 1793 CSK 2017.jpg|thumb|330px|A Flora-class frigate at battle]]
He was born in 1700 the grandson of a John Williams who designed [[HMS Crescent (1643)|HMS Crescent]] in 1642.<ref name=":0" />
In 1762 he was a Master Shipwright in [[Sheerness Dockyard]]. His only named ship construction is [[HMS Winchelsea (1764)]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=British Fifth Rate frigate 'Winchelsea' (1764) |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=6886 |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=threedecks.org}}</ref>
In June 1765 he was appointed [[Surveyor to the Navy]], working alongside [[Thomas Slade]]. This role was based in the Admiralty and involved the master planning of the British fleet and strategic planning of harbour improvements.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C712 |title=Records of the Surveyor of the Navy and successors |date=1620–1979 |others=Board of Admiralty, Controller of the Navy, Board of Admiralty, Directorate of Naval Construction, Board of Admiralty, Ship Department, Naval Construction Division, Board of Admiralty, Steam Department, Board of Admiralty, Surveyor of the Navy, Navy Board, Comptroller of the Navy |language=English}}</ref>
In April 1778, he was joined at the Admiralty by [[Edward Hunt (shipbuilder)|Edward Hunt]]. He left in December 1784 his position being filled by [[John Henslow (Surveyor of the Navy)|John Henslow]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=John Williams (1700-1786) |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=23268 |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=threedecks.org}}</ref>
==Ships designed==
*[[Portland-class ship]] (1766) 50-gun ships
*[[Swan-class ship-sloop]] (1766) 14-gun sloops of which at least 25 were built
*[[Amazon-class frigate (1773)|Amazon-class frigate]] (1770) thirty-three 32-gun [[frigate]]s launched from 1773
*[[Enterprise-class frigate]] (1771) twenty-seven 28-gun [[frigate]]s launched from 1773
*[[HMS Vengeance (1774)|HMS Vengeance]] (1771) 74-gun [[ship of the line]] launched in 1774
*[[Experiment-class ship]] (1772) a series of 50-gun ships
*[[Sphinx-class post ship]] (1773) a series of ten 20-gun post ships
*[[HMS Royal Sovereign (1786)|HMS Royal Sovereign]] (1774) 100-gun [[ship of the line]] not launched until 1786 and Collingwood's flagship at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]]
*[[HMS Montagu (1779)|HMS Montagu]] (1775) 74-gun [[ship of the line]] launched in 1779
*[[Porcupine-class post ship]] (1776) ten 24-gun post ships
*[[HMS Jupiter (1778)|HMS Jupiter]] (1776) 50-gun ship launched in 1778.
*[[Alert-class cutter]] (1776) a series of 14-gun cutters
*[[Sprightly-class cutter]] (1776) a series of 10-gun cutters
*[[HMS Childers (1778)]] a 10-gun [[sloop]]
*[[Flora-class frigate]] (1778) a series of four 36-gun frigates
*[[L'Experiment]] (1779) 50-gun ship of the line
*[[HMS Latona (1781)|HMS Latona]] (1779) 38-gun frigate launched in 1781
*[[HMS Unicorn]] (1781) 20-gun ship (redesign of the "Unicorn Prize")
*[[HMS Raven]] (1782) 18-gun sloop (redesign of HMS Ceres?)
*[[HMS Pigmy]] (1782) 14-gun cutter
*[[HMS Blonde (1787)|HMS Blonde]] (1783) 32-gun frigate launched in 1787
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, James}}
[[Category:1700 births]]
[[Category:1784 deaths]]
[[Category:Surveyors of the Navy]]