HMS Thunder

There have been several ships names HMS Thunder that belonged to The Royal Navy. Most were bomb ships designed for shore bombardment and coastal attacks. They were typically armed with mortars located amidships that fired large explosive shells or bombs with a high arcing trajectory onto land targets. For self-defence they also had a few laterally mounted cannon.

As is common when a ship is lost, sold, or broken up; the name is re-used. This happened from the late 17th century with the earliest wooden hulled ships until the mid-19th century with an ironclad floating battery and even later with a minesweeper with the Royal Canadian Navy.
What we do not have is are records that show a fully rigged, third-rate ship of the line named HMS Thunder. There was however, HMS Thunderer and HMS Hercules, both 74-gun, third rate ships of the line. A model thought to be of either ship sits in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. These are the closest match in name and description, and, most likely the inspiration for our Captain Merriman’s ship HMS Thunder as depicted by Roger Burnage in Book Seven ‘The Threat in the Adriatic’.

This graphic illustration is by Marine Artist Colin M Baxter. It was commissioned for this book to help readers (and Robin for book eight) understand the sails and rigging a bit easier. If you look closely, you can also see captain Merriman and officers standing on the quarterdeck.