First and Second Rate Ships of the 18th Century

[Bligh]

HMS Dreadnought (1801)



HMS Dreadnought was a 98-gun second rate. Designed by Sir John Henslow, and built by M/S George White, then Edward Tippett and completed by Henry Peake. This ship of the line was launched at Portsmouth at midday on Saturday, 13 June 1801, after she had spent 13 years on the stocks. She was the first man-of-war launched since the Act of Union 1800 created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and at her head displayed a lion couchant on a scroll bearing the Royal arms as emblazoned on the Standard.

Launch.

After the launch, Dreadnought was brought into dock for coppering, and a great number of people went on board to view her. The following day, due to the exertions of Mr Peake, the builder, and the artificers of the dockyard, she was completely coppered in six hours and on Monday morning she went out of dock for rigging and fitting.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Dreadnought
Ordered:	17 January 1788
Builder:	Portsmouth Dockyard
Laid down:	July 1788
Launched:	13 June 1801
Fate:	Broken up, 1857
Notes:	Participated in: Battle of Trafalgar
General characteristics
Class and type:	Neptune-classship of the line
Tons burthen:	2110 (bm)
Length:	185 ft (56 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	51 ft (16 m)
Depth of hold:	21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Middle gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder guns Quarterdeck: 8 × 12-pounder guns Forecastle: 2 × 12-pounder guns

Active service.

Her first commander was Captain James Vashon. After cruising for some time in the Channel he proceeded off Cádiz and Menorca where he continued until the summer of 1802.

In the April of 1803 she was briefly Captained by James Bowen, but from May Captain Edward Brace briefly took command as flag captain to William Cornwallis, and then William Dommett in July, until he in turn was relieved in the September of that year by Captain John Child Purvis. Purvis served under the orders of Admiral Cornwallis for the blockade of Brest until the latter was promoted to rear-admiral in the April of 1804. The next commander from The May of 1804 until August was George Reynolds., who, in turn, was replaced in the January of 1805 by Edward Rotheram, who stayed as flag captain to Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood in the Channel Fleet until just before Trafalgar. The winter gale weather off the French coast badly damaged five of the major warships maintaining the blockade. Dreadnought lost most of her powder when water poured into her magazine.

In the spring of 1805, Admiral Cornwallis was superseded by the ailing Lord Gardner who allowed the close blockade to be slackened due to adverse weather conditions. On the 30th of March the French fleet slipped out of Toulon and sailed for Cádiz reaching it on the 9th of April. The French and Spanish squadrons then sailed separately from there and re-joined forces at Martinique on the 26th of May with Admiral Nelson in close persuit. On the15th of May, Collingwood and his squadron of seven ships received orders from the Admiralty to sail for Barbados. Before they could depart; however, Horatio Nelson arrived still in pursuit of the French, and Dreadnought proceeded to Cádiz to allow Collingwood to establish a close blockade of that Naval base.

Early in the October of 1805 Captain John Conn assumed command of Dreadnought, after having brought Royal Sovereign out from England for Vice-Admiral Collingwood. Collingwood and Rotheram then moved to the newly recoppered first rate on 10 October 1805, leaving Conn in command of the now sluggish Dreadnought, with her barnacled hull badly in need of careening, but nevertheless with a well exercised ship's company, who for months having been under Collingwood's watchful eye, now contained one of the most efficient gun crews in the fleet.

At the battle of Trafalgar on the 21st of October, 1805, Dreadnought was the eighth ship in the lee division to enter the action. She started firing on San Juan Nepomuceno at two o'clock and fifteen minutes later ran her on board and forced her to surrender after her commander Commodore Cosme Damian de Churruca y Elorza had been killed in action. She then attempted to engage Principe de Asturias but the Spanish ship hauled off. During the battle Dreadnought lost seven killed and 26 wounded.

After Trafalgar, Dreadnought continued in the blockade of Cadiz. On 25 November, Thunderer detained the Ragusan ship Nemesis, which was sailing from Isle de France to Leghorn, Italy, with a cargo of spice, indigo dye, and other goods. Dreadnought shared the prize money with ten other British warships.

In the September of 1806 she was ordered to Portsmouth for a refit. She was recommissioned in the December of that year, under the Captaincy of William Lechmere, for service in the Channel. She remained as part of the Channel Fleet, from that date until 1809.From 1808 she was under Captain G. B. Salt serving as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Thomas Sotheby, off Ushant.

On 9 November Dreadnought, Gibraltar, Christian VII, Milford, Naiad, Unicorn, and the hired armed cutters Nimrod and Adrian were all in sight when the Ballahoo class schoonerSnapper captured the French brig Modeste.

In 1810, still under Sotheby, she had another change of Captin to Samuel Linzee. On 7 September of that year, the Snapper sighted a ship among the rocks on the west side of Ushant. She made a signal to Dreadnought, who carried off a cutting out expedition which culminated in the taking of the Spanish merchant brig Maria-Antonia, which had previously been captured by a French privateer. However, the success was bought at the cost of six dead, 31 wounded, and a further six men missing, in addition to two ship’s boats. This was as a result of an ambush by a large party of French troops with two field pieces positioned upon a cliff overlooking the anchorage.

In the spring of 1811, Dreadnought, under Captain Samuel Linzee, was berthed in Lisbon from whence she was ordered to the Baltic at the end of that year. On the 16th of December, 1811, a fleet of about 150 merchant ships sailed from Wingo, near Gothenburg, under the escort of a number of ships, including Dreadnought. A gale resulted in the loss of St George and Defence as previously mentioned in the Article about the former Providently, Dreadnought and the other ships survived to arrive safely at their destination.

Paid of at Portsmouth in December of that year Dreadnought underwent large repairs not completed until the August of 1812. She then went into Ordinary.

Fate.

In 1825 she was fitted out as a Lazarett to berth at Pembroke. Next fitted as a Hospital ship at Sheerness in mid 1831, she was then moved to Woolwich.She became the second of the ships used by the Seamen's Hospital Society, from this date until 1857, as a hospital ship for ex-members of the Merchant Navy or fishing fleet, and their dependents.



Dreadnought at Greenwich 1841 by William Parrott
https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus...4b.jpgGallery:


Dreadnought as a Quarantine ship.

Dreadnought was finally broken up in 1857.

[Bligh]

HMS Ocean (1805)





HMS Ocean was an Ocean class 98-gun second-rateship of the line designed by Sir john Henslow, M/shipwright John Tovery, and completed by Edward Sison. She was launched from Woolwich Dockyard on the 24th of October, 1805. She was the only ship built to her draught.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Ocean
Ordered:	4 May 1797
Builder:	Woolwich Dockyard
Laid down:	1 October 1792
Launched:	24 October 1805
Fate:	Broken up, 1875
Notes:	Depot ship from 1841
General characteristics
Class and type:	98-gun second rateship of the line
Tons burthen:	2276​49⁄94 (bm)
Length:	196 ft (60 m)(gundeck)
Beam:	51 ft (16 m)
Depth of hold:	21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	·98 guns: ·Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs ·Middle gundeck: 30 × 18 pdrs ·Upper gundeck: 30 × 18 pdrs ·Quarterdeck: 8 × 12 pdrs ·Forecastle: 2 × 12 pdrs

She was commissioned in November 1805 under Captain Francis Pender, and sailed in 1806 for the Med.

In 1807 still in the Med, she was commanded by Captain Richard Thomas as Flagship of Admiral Collingwood. In the July of 1809 she was paid off and returned to Plymouth for repairs.





In the May of 1812 she was re commissioned under Captain Robert Plamplin and returned to the Med on the 17th of April of that year.

Paid off once more in the July of 1814, she was placed in Ordinary at Plymouth, and re-classed as a First Rate ship of 110 guns in the February of 1817.

This alteration was dramatically reversed in the October of 1819 when she was cut down to a Third rate two decker of only 80 guns.



Fitted as a Guard ship at Plymouth in 1824.



Between the August of 1830 and the July of 1831 she served as a Lazarette.
In 1832 she was once more fitted as an 80 gun Flagship at Sheerness, then between the September of 1837 and the January of 1838 for the Captain of the Ordinary also at Sheerness.



In the Autumn of 1852 she was fitted as a coal hulk at Chatham there to lie and later at Sheerness.
She was eventually broken up at Chatham on the 11th of December,1875.




Her figurehead is preserved at Queenborough, Kent.

[Bligh]

HMS Impregnable (1810)



HMS Impregnable was a 98-gun second rate three-decker ship of the line and the sole one in its class. She was Designed by Sir William Rule in 1798, and built by M/shipwright David Polhill, but completed by Robert Seppings. Launched on the first of August, 1810 at Chatham, purportedly as originally built she was a near copy of the famed first rateHMS Victory, Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Impregnable
Ordered:	13 January 1798
Builder:	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down:	February 1802
Launched:	1 August 1810
Renamed:	HMS Kent, HMS Caledonia
Fate:	Sold, 1906
General characteristics
Class and type:	98-gun second rateship of the line
Tons burthen:	2406 bm
Length:	197 ft (60 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	51 ft (16 m)
Depth of hold:	22 ft (6.7 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Armament:	98 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Middle gundeck: 30 × 18 pdrs Upper gundeck: 30 × 12 pdrs Quarterdeck: 8 × 12 pdrs Forecastle: 2 × 12 pdrs

She was commissioned in July 1811 under Captain James W Maurice, and fitted for sea at Portsmouth between the January and May of 1812 when she was handed over to Captain George McKenzie for service in the English Channel and North Sea.
She became the Flagship of Admiral William Young in 1813. under Captain John Loring. Then the from May of 1814 Captain Charles Adam.

In June 1814 it was Captain Adam who commanded her when she was used as the flagship of the Admiral of the Fleet H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence (later King William IV).

"On the occasion of the visit of several Crowned Heads of State. H.R.H. soon after removed his flag into the Impregnable, of 98 guns, on board which ship the Emperor of Russia, King of Prussia, and their respective suites, embarked June 6th following, and were landed in the evening at Dover."

A grand naval review at Spithead took place under the able management of the Duke of Clarence, assisted by the talents of Sir Richard Bickerton,the Port Admiral, and the Hon. Henry Blackwood, Captain of the Fleet, whose indefatigable zeal and exertion in arranging and reducing into form these proceedings, H.R.H. was pleased to acknowledge in general orders.

Recommissioned in the June of 1816 under Captain Edward Brace, she took part in the bombardment of Algiers on the 27th of August as the Flagship of Rear Admiral David Milne. where she was second in the order of battle. In the attack, Impregnable, isolated from the other ships was a large and tempting target, attracting attention from the Algerian gunners who raked her fore and aft, she was severely damaged. 268 shots hit the hull, the main mast was damaged in 15 places. Impregnable lost Mr. John Hawkins, midshipman, 37 seamen, 10 marines and 2 boys killed and Mr. G. N. Wesley, Mr. Henry Quinn, 111 seamen, 21 marines, 9 sappers and miners and 17 boys wounded.

In October1816 she came under the command of Captain James Nash as the Flagship of Admiral Sir John Duckworth and then in 1817 was re-classed as a 106 gun First Rate ship of the line. From the September of 1817 she came under the captaincy of Pownall Pellew, and later in 1821 Captain Alexander Skene. Between the February of 1825 and April of 1826 she was extensively remodeled with a circular stern, at Plymouth Dockyard where she became the Harbour Flagship in 1839. From May of that year until October 1841 she relieved HMS Royal Adelaide as the Commander-in-Chief's flagship moored at the entrance to the Hamoaze.


HMS Impregnable in a gale of Wind off Sardinia 29 October 1841. By Giovanni Schranz (artist and engraver)


She then saw service again in the Mediterranean until May 1843, when she was once again laid up with the reserve fleet at Devonport.



Quarterdeck of HMS Impregnable circa 1853

Impregnable was rated as a training ship in 1862 and removed from the reserve fleet to begin service at Devonport training boy seamen for the Royal Navy.
On 27 September 1886, Impregnable was replaced by HMS Howe which was renamed HMS Bulwark as she became a training ship. The old Impregnable ended her days first as a tender to HMS Indus and then on 9 November 1888 she was renamed HMS Kent to be used as a hulk in the event of an epidemic. On that date, her name, Impregnable, was given to HMS Bulwark (the former HMS Howe), still serving at Devonport. Three years later on 22 September 1891, she was once again re-named, this time HMS Caledonia, and became a Scottish boys training / school ship moored at Queensferry in the Firth of Forth.

As HMS Caledonia, she was to spend the next 15 years at anchor in the Firth of Forth as a training ship for boys. The ship was divided up for training by decks: The Upper Deck was used exclusively for sail drill, gunnery and recreation. The Main and Middle decks were used for seamanship classes and instruction. The Lower and Orlop decks were devoted to living and sleeping spaces. The training ship accommodated 190 Officers and men as well as 800 boys. Instruction covered boat pulling, sailing & gunnery. It was hoped that this form of training would instil in the boys the qualities of resourcefulness, courage and self-reliance. Theoretical instruction was undertaken in the 'Schoolroom'. This room could accommodate 200 boys at once and often did. The 200 boys were broken down into classes of 15 – 20. Commander the Hon. Robert Francis Boyle was in command from August 1901.




Impregnable in her new role in 1898 as HMS Caledonia in the Firth of Forth
She was sold to JB Garnham for breaking up on the 19th of July, 1906. The heavy oak beams of the cloister of St Conan’s Kirk were made from Caledonia and HMS Duke of Wellington. The church is situated by the side of Loch Awe.

[Bligh]

HMS Boyne (1783)




HMS Boyne was a 98-gun second-rateship of the line Designed by Edward Hunt and built by M/shipwright Henry Peake, then Martin Ware, and completed by John Nelson. She was launched on the 27th of June, 1790 at Woolwich.
.

History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Boyne
Ordered:	21 January 1783
Builder:	Woolwich Dockyard
Laid down:	4 November 1783
Launched:	27 June 1790
Commissioned:	August 1790
Fate:	Accidentally burnt, 1 May 1795
General characteristics
Class and type:	Boyne-classship of the line
Tons burthen:	2021 (bm)
Length:	182 ft (55 m) (gundeck) 149 ft 8 in (45.62 m) (keel)
Beam:	50 ft 4 5⁄8 in (15.357 m)
Depth of hold:	21 ft 9 in (6.63 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Armament:	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Middle gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 12-pounder guns QD: 8 × 12-pounder guns Fc: 2 × 12-pounder guns

HMS Boyne was commissioned in the August of 1790 under Captain George Bowyer for the Spanish Armament.
Recommissioned in the December of 1792, under Captain William Ottway. in the June of 1793 she captured the 20 gun Privateer Le Guidelon in the Channel.

Invasion of Guadeloupe.

From the November of 1793 she came under the captaincy of George Grey as the flagship of Vice Admiral John Jervis. She sailed for the West Indies on the 26th of November carrying Lieutenant-general Sir Charles Grey and Vice-admiral Sir John Jervis for an invasion of Guadeloupe. On the way, Yellow fever ravaged the crew. Still, the British managed to get the French to surrender at Fort St. Charles in Guadeloupe on 21 April of the following year. The capture of Fort St. Charles, the batteries, and the town of Basse-Terre cost the British army two men killed, four wounded, and five missing; the navy had no casualties.

Fate.



The Loss of the HMS Boyne by Thomas Elliott.

Boyne caught fire and blew up on 1 May 1795 at Spithead. She was lying at anchor while the Royal Marines of the vessel were practicing firing exercises. It is supposed that the funnel of the wardroom stove, which passed through the decks, set fire to papers in the Admiral's cabin. The fire was only discovered when flames burst through the poop, by which time it was too late to do anything. The fire spread rapidly and she was aflame from one end to the other within half an hour.
As soon as the fleet noticed the fire, other vessels sent boats to render assistance. As a result, the death toll on Boyne was only eleven men. At the same time, the signal was made for the vessels most at danger from the fire to get under way. Although the tide and wind were not favourable, all the vessels in any danger were able to escape to St Helens.
Because the guns were always left loaded, the cannons began to 'cook off', firing shots at potential rescuers making their way to the ship, resulting in the deaths of two seamen and the injury of another aboard Queen Charlotte, anchored nearby. Later in the day, the fire burnt the cables and Boyne drifted eastward till she grounded on the east end of the Spit, opposite Southsea Castle. There she blew up soon after.

Post-script.

The wreck presented something of a hazard to a navigation and as a result it was blown up on 30 August 1838 in a clearance attempt. Today the Boyne buoy marks the site of the explosion. A few metal artifacts from the ship remain atop a mound of shingle.

[Bligh]

HMS BOYNE (1801)



HMS Boyne was a 98-gun New Boyne Class second rateship of the line based on the design by Sir Thomas Slade for HMS Victory.M/shipwright Nicholas Diddams. Launched on 3 July 1810 at Portsmouth.

History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Boyne
Ordered:	25 June 1801
Builder:	Portsmouth Dockyard
Laid down:	April 1806
Launched:	3 July 1810
Renamed:	HMS Excellent, 1834
Fate:	Broken up, 1861
General characteristics
Class and type:	Boyne-classship of the line
Tons burthen:	2155 bm
Length:	186 ft (57 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	51 ft 5 in (15.67 m)
Depth of hold:	22 ft (6.7 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Complement:	738 (650 razeed)
Armament:	98 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Middle gundeck: 30 × 18 pdrs Upper gundeck: 30 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 2 × 18 pdrs, 12 × 32 pdr carronades Forecastle: 2 × 18 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades 76 guns (after being razeed): Gundeck: 26 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 68 pdr carronades Upper gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 68 pdr carronades Quarterdeck: 2 × 18 pdrs, 12 × 32 pdr carronades Forecastle: 2 × 18 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades

She was commissioned in the January of 1811 under Captain Henry Hume Spence as Flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Harry Burrard Neal. From February of that year under Captain John Hanchett, and from the November of the same year Captain Charles Jones.

From the March of 1813 she saw action under Captain George Burlton against a French Squadron off Toulon on the 2nd of February 1814.


Fight of the Romulus against HMS Boyne and HMS Caledonia, by Vincent Courdouan (1848


Together with HMS Caledonia she took part in a heated engagement against the French line-of-battle ship Romulus .The French 74 managed to escape to Toulon by sailing close to the coast, thus avoiding being surrounded.

In the November of that same year she was recommissioned under Captain Frederic L Maitland for service in the Med, and from the March of 1815 under Captain Sir Archibald C Dixon.

Then in 1816 she was commanded by Captain Edmund Boger as the Flagship of Lord Exmouth.

When the 1817 alterations to the rating system came into force Boyne was uprated to a 104-gun first rate ship of the Line.

On the 23rd of November, 1824, Boyne was driven ashore at Portsmouth during a gale.



Boyne at Portsmouth 1826
By Vincent Courdouan (7 March 1810 -- 8 December 1893)Photograph by Rama - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6785236

In 1826 she was cut down (razeed) to become a two-deck, 76-gun third-rate ship of the line.

On 1 December 1834 she was renamed HMS Excellent and became a training ship.

On 22 November 1859 she was renamed HMS Queen Charlotte and paid off the following month before being broken up from December 1861.

[Bligh]

HMS Union (1811)




HMS Union was a 98-gun (New Boyne Class) second rate ship of the line. The second of her class built to the design of Sir Thomas Slade's HMS Victory. M/shipwright Joseph Tucker. She was launched on the16th of November, 1811 at Plymouth.

story
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Union
Ordered:	16 July 1801
Builder:	Plymouth Dockyard
Laid down:	October 1805
Launched:	16 November 1811
Fate:	Broken up, 1833
General characteristics
Class and type:	Boyne-class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	2149 bm
Length:	186 ft (57 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	51 ft 5 in (15.67 m)
Depth of hold:	22 ft (6.7 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	98 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Middle gundeck: 30 × 18 pdrs Upper gundeck: 30 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 2 × 18 pdrs, 12 × 32 pdr carronades Forecastle: 2 × 18 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades

Commissioned in the April of 1812 under Captain Samuel Hood Linzee, on the 19th of May of that year, she sailed for the Med under Captain William Kent who unfortunately died on the 29th of August. The captaincy then passed to Robert Rolles.
Union was paid off in the July of 1814 at Plymouth, and went into Ordinary.

From this date she saw no more actual sea service.

Fate.

She was reclassed as a 104 gun First Rate ship of the Line in the February of 1817.
On the 24th of April 1827 it was suggested that she be cut down to an 80 gun Second Rate Ship of the line, but this idea was later changed on the 3rd of December 1832 to convert her into a 76 gun ship.

Neither of these suggestions were actually carried out. Instead, she was broken up at Plymouth in the March of 1833.

[Bligh]

This concludes my list of First and Second Rate ships of the Line. i will now progress to the 80 gun ships .
My work is indebted to the following references:-

Wikipedia.
More than Nelson.
Osprey's British Napoleonic ships of the Line.
Rif Winfield's British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817
The ships of Trafalgar by Peter Goodwin.
The battle of Copenhagen by Ole Feldbaekand,
Thec Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
Any mistakes are solely down to me.

Rob.