HMS Somerset ( 1748 ) HMS " Somerset " was a 70 - gun third - rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy , built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment , and launched on 18 July 1748 . She was the third vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name . " Somerset " was involved in several notable battles of the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War . She was wrecked in a storm in 1778 when she ran aground off of Provincetown , on Cape Cod , Massachusetts . Seven Years War . HMS " Somerset " saw action at the capture of the fortress of Louisbourg and Cape Bretton Island during the Seven Years War ( a theatre known in the United States as the French and Indian War ) . In 1758 , a British expedition under General Jeffrey Amherst besieged the fortress at Louisbourg , beginning on 8 June . The British had 39 ships with about 14 , 000 sailors , and a further landing force of 12 , 870 soldiers . The fortress was defended by 10 French ships with 3 , 870 sailors , and another 3 , 920 soldiers inside the fortress itself . The 48 - day siege by Admiral Edward Boscawen and General Amherst ended with the French surrender on 26 July , clearing the way for a British expedition to sail up the Saint Lawrence River to take Quebec City the following summer . The expedition against Quebec City , led by General James Wolfe , was landed by a force that included HMS " Somerset " . The British were victorious at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham on 13 September 1759 giving Britain control of Canada and North America ' s Atlantic seaboard . American Revolutionary War . HMS " Somerset " went on to play a well documented part in the American Revolutionary War , where she served from 1774 to 1776 and again from 1777 up until her loss in 1778 . Battle of Lexington and Concord . Events might have unfolded differently on the night of 18 April 1775 had the duty watch of HMS " Somerset " been more alert . Paul Revere had set out that night to ride to Lexington to warn two prominent Colonial leaders , Samuel Adams and John Hancock , that their lives might be in danger . Having departed Boston by rowboat to cross the Back Bay into Charlestown , he narrowly avoided being noticed by HMS " Somerset " , which was anchored there . Had he been stopped , the militias of many towns would not have arrived in Concord , and the next day ' s battle of Lexington and Concord might have had a different outcome . As it was , " Somerset ' s " gun crews were able to keep rebel forces from following the retreating British troops to Charlestown on the evening of 19 April . Revere ' s exploits led to HMS " Somerset ’ s " immortalisation in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ’ s poem ' The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere ' : Battle of Chelsea Creek . " Somerset " was the backdrop to another brief but important incident during the war , the Battle of Chelsea Creek . On the night of Saturday 27 May 1775 , HMS Armed Schooner " Diana " , under the command of Lieutenant Thomas Graves , ran aground in Chelsea Creek while attempting to keep Americans from driving British livestock from Noddle ' s Island in Boston Harbor , at which point the American rebels set fire to the ship . HMS " Somerset ' s " tender , " Britannia " ( under the command of Thomas Graves ' brother Lieutenant John Graves ) , was able to rescue the " Diana ' s " company . Lt Thomas Graves went on to serve under Lord Rodney at the Battle of the Saintes , eventually becoming Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Graves and Nelson ’ s second - in - command at the Battle of Copenhagen . He was permanently scarred by the burns he received at Noddle ’ s Island . He was a cousin of Admiral Thomas Graves , 1st Baron Graves who would command at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781 and the nephew of Admiral Samuel Graves . Battle of Bunker Hill ( Breed ' s Hill ) . Shortly after those events , HMS " Somerset " served as the flagship of Admiral Samuel Graves at the Battle of Bunker Hill . Boston , under British control since 1768 , was under siege by between 8 , 000 and 12 , 000 militia . On the night of 16 June 1775 , several thousand militia forces began occupying the strategically important Charlestown Peninsula and fortified Breed ' s Hill , a position from which they would be able to bombard the British in Boston . At dawn , HMS " Lively " was first to spot the new fortification and the ship opened fire , temporarily halting the Americans ' work . Admiral Graves , in HMS " Somerset " , awoke to the sound of gunfire he hadn ' t ordered . He ordered it stopped , only to reverse his order when he saw the works . He ordered all 128 guns in the harbour to open fire on the American position . The broadsides proved largely ineffective , since the ships were unable to elevate their guns sufficiently to reach the hilltop . The position was eventually taken by British troops , ferried across the bay under protection of the navy ’ s guns , but at considerable cost . Loss . In the autumn of 1777 , HMS " Somerset " took part in the Siege of Fort Mifflin in which the British successfully captured the river forts on the Delaware River . HMS " Somerset ’ s " luck ran out at the end of 1778 . She was battered by gales in August . While pursuing a French squadron , she ran aground in a 2 November 1778 gale on Peaked Hill Bars off Provincetown , Massachusetts . By the time the Somerset had wrecked , Cape Codders had suffered greatly from the British blockade during the American Revolution . Commercial fishing and whaling were virtually shut down . Some local people engaged in privateering and smuggling along the coast , while others turned to the land for subsistence . When the giant " Somerset " wrecked on the Cape , there likely was a strong emotional reaction by the local populace . According to the official account of the ship ’ s captain , George Ourry , only 21 men were lost during the wreck . Captain Ourry was forced to walk under guard to Providence , Rhode Island , where he was exchanged for 2 American officers . The officers and crew , numbering over 400 , were escorted to Boston . Towns along the route provided militia to escort and support the prisoners . A tremendous amount of scarce war material was chopped or pried away from the wreck by local residents before the state put a guard over what remained . Eleven 18 - pound and five 9 - pound cannon and powder were entrusted to Colonel Paul Revere to be used in fortifying Castle Island in Boston Harbor . Salvage of the " Somerset ' s " cargo was dangerous and difficult . Provisions in the lower hold were only accessible for a few hours a day at low tide . Severe winter storms in December finally broke the remains of the ship apart , moved it closer to shore , and eventually buried it under tons of sand at an area known locally as Dead Man ' s Hollow . It took several more months of bitter court proceedings to sort out who owned what in the aftermath of salvage operations . The " Somerset ' s " wreckage has been partially exposed , albeit briefly , only three times since 1788 – in 1886 , 1973 and 2010 – by storm currents that caused part of the wreckage to be uncovered . In 2010 the National Park Service commissioned a digital survey using 3D imaging technology to accurately record the exposed timbers that was visible . It was estimated that only the lower 10 % of the ship remains , buried once again under the sand . The " Somerset " is protected under international law , and is the sovereign property of the United Kingdom . Remembrance . The National Park Service preserves some of the large timbers from the wreck . In 2005 , the park superintendent presented a few pieces of the Somerset to the commander and crew of the British navy ’ s modern HMS " Somerset ( IV ) " . HMS " Somerset " is remembered by a historical re - enactment society in Boston , called ' His Majesty ’ s Ship " Somerset " . Further reading . The third HMS " Somerset " is the subject of the book " HMS Somerset , 1746 – 1778 . The Life and Times of an Eighteenth Century British Man - o - War and Her Impact on North America " , Marjorie Hubbell Gibson , Abbey Gate Press , 1992 , currently out of print .