HMS Andromeda Wood Ship Model by Richard Hewitt

Wood ship model of the HMS Andromeda hand carved by Richard Hewitt. Richard Hewitt moved to Port Townsend, WA when he was 18 to take a job as a boat builder. He lived in Port Townsend for 27 years and raised his family there. He always had a passion for tall ships from the past and started building hand crafted wooden ship models when his family was young. He enjoyed building the forgotten ships – those with no photos or paintings, just a record in the archives. By reading the history, his artist eye started creating what he thought the ship may have looked like. Each ship is started with a solid block of wood, he carved the full by hand. To complete the ship, it takes anywhere from 8 to 12 months. Each ship is special and hard for him to part with, but his shipyard was getting full. HMS Andromeda was a 32-gun Hermione-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was laid down in 1781 and launched in 1784 . She was commissioned for the first time in 1788 when Captain Prince William Henry took command of her and sailed for the West Indies. Andromeda was a 32-gun, 12-pounder Hermione-class frigate designed by Edward Hunt. Her class was designed as a lengthened version of the Active-class frigate. Prince William Henry paid her off in 1789 and she was not commissioned again until 1790 in response to the Spanish Armament. In 1792 Andromeda joined the Royal Navy's Evolution Squadron in the English Channel before sailing for the Leeward Islands where she stayed until the end of 1793 when Captain Lord Northesk brought her home. Captain William Taylor assumed command in 1795, briefly sailing her to Newfoundland before returning to the North Sea Fleet in 1796. After another period of service in the Leeward Islands Andromeda returned home at the Peace of Amiens and was laid up at Portsmouth Dockyard where she was broken up in September 1811.