The designation “HMS St Andrew (1670)” does not correspond to a widely documented vessel in established naval historiography or standard reference works on the Royal Navy. No major encyclopedic sources, ship registers, or contemporary naval records consistently identify a ship bearing this exact name and launch year. Consequently, the term lacks sufficient verifiable information for a comprehensive entry.
Possible Contextual Interpretation
- Naming conventions – The Royal Navy has historically named ships after saints, including “St Andrew”. Several vessels carried the name “St Andrew” or “Andrew” in the 16th and 17th centuries, often undergoing renamings and rebuilds, which can cause confusion in later records.
- Date attribution – The year 1670 falls within a period of extensive shipbuilding and rebuilding following the Restoration of the English monarchy (1660) and the Anglo‑Dutch Wars. It is plausible that a ship named “St Andrew” was launched, rebuilt, or renamed in that year, but the surviving documentation does not unambiguously identify such a vessel.
- Potential candidates – Some historical references mention a first‑rate ship originally launched as “St Andrew” in the early 1620s, later rebuilt and renamed “Royal Charles” (later “HMS Royal Charles”). Another source notes a 70‑gun third‑rate launched in the late 1660s with a similar saintly name, but the exact details differ among accounts.
Conclusion
Due to the absence of corroborated, detailed records, “HMS St Andrew (1670)” cannot be definitively described as a distinct, historically recognized ship. Any further information would be speculative without reliable primary or scholarly sources.