The three ships approached the harbour, as directed, with
great firmness; but they were assailed by so heavy a fire, not only
from the enemy's ships and fortifications, but from several masked
batteries, that, after an unequal but desperate contest of upwards of
three hours, they were compelled to retire without having succeeded in
their object; and to repair to Gibraltar to be refitted.
In the course of the year 1759 Captain Barker was succeeded in the
command of the Jersey by Captain Andrew Wilkinson, under whom, forming
one of the Mediterranean fleet, commanded by Sir Charles Saunders, she
continued in active service until 1763.
In 1763 peace was established, and the Jersey returned to England and
was laid up; but in May, 1766, she was again commissioned, and under
the command of Captain William Dickson, and bearing the flag of
Admiral Spry, she was ordered to her former station in the
Mediterranean, where she remained three years.
In the spring of 1769, bearing the flag of Commodore Sir John Byron,
the Jersey sailed for America. She seems to have returned home at the
close of the summer, and her active duties appear to have been brought
to an end.
She remained out of commission until 1776, when, without armament, and
under the command of Captain Anthony Halstead, she was ordered to New
York as a hospital ship.
Captain Halstead died on the 17th of May, 1778, and, in July
following, he was succeeded by Commander David Laird, under whom,
either as a hospital, or a prison ship, she remained in Wallabout bay,
until she was abandoned at the close of the war, to her fate, which
was to rot in the mud at her moorings, until, at last, she sank, and
for many years her wretched worm-eaten old hulk could be seen at low
tide, shunned by all, a sorry spectacle, the ghost of what had once
been a gallant man-of-war.
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