HMS Bridgewater was a sixth-rate 20-gun ship of the Royal Navy, built in 1740 and wrecked in 1743. She was commissioned in August 1740 under Captain Robert Pett for service in the North Sea and English Channel. In December 1741 Bridgewater was assigned to coastal duties off Newfoundland under Captain Frederick Rogers. On Christmas Day 1742 she engaged and captured an 18-gun privateer, Santa Rita, off the Scilly Isles. A month later she received her third captain, William Fielding, and returned to her Newfoundland patrol. Bridgewater was wrecked in St Mary's Bay, Newfoundland on 18 September 1743. Notes References 1740 ships Sixth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy Maritime incidents in 1743