HMS Defiance (1783)
HMS Defiance was a 74-gun Revived Elizabeth Class third rateship of the line. Ordered on the 11th of July,1780. Designed by Thomas Slade and built by M/shipwright John Randall and John Brent at Rotherhithe. She was launched on the10th of December,1783.
History
Great Britain.
Name:
HMS Defiance
Ordered:
11 July 1780
Builder:
Randall, and Brent, Rotherhithe
Laid down:
April 1782
Launched:
10 December 1783
Honours and
awards:
Participated in:
Fate:
Broken up, 1817
General characteristics
Class and type:
Revised Elizabeth-classship of the line
Tons burthen:
1685 bm
Length:
168 ft 6 in (51.36 m) (gundeck)
Beam:
46 ft 4 in (14.12 m)
Depth of hold:
19 ft 9 in (6.02 m)
Propulsion:
Sails
Sail plan:
Full rigged ship
Armament:
History.
She was commissioned in the August of 1794 by Lt M.T. Hewitt for Captain George Keppel.
After undergoing some repairs, in May 1795 she was placed under the Captancy of Captain George Home.
In the March of 1796 she was commanded by Captain Theophilus Jones until 1798. He sailed her with the Channel Fleet during September and October 1796 at which time it was reported that,
Her qualifications are described as having been of a very superior order. She stowed her provisions well, and when sailing with the Channel fleet in September and October, 1796, beat all the line of battle ships, and kept pace with the frigates. " Upon a wind," Rays the Master's report, " spared them" (the line of battle ships) " main-sail and top-gallant sails, and sailing two or three points free or before the wind, beat them still more." At this time the Defiance's draught of water forward was 20 feet 5 inches; aft, 22 feet 5 inches; height of the midship port, 5 feet 8 inches. Her masts were stayed thus: "foremast nearly upright, main and mizenmasts rake aft."
Her crew mutinied three times, firstly in October 1795, Her captain initially had to release the ringleaders when the ratings attempted to storm the officer's quarters, but later these and additional mutineers were put in irons when.......
...in the afternoon a strong party of the 7th, or South Fencible regiment, and several officers, arrived on board. On the 20th, at 10 a.m., a general muster of the ship's company was made, and the eight men, previously in irons, together with three more, were placed in confinement, and others were subsequently added. A few days afterwards the South Fencibles were relieved by a detachment of the 134th Regt., in number 132, under Lieut.-Colonel Baillie, and with these the Defiance sailed from Leith and returned to the Nore.
The stationing of the Army troops was required because the ship sailed without its contingent of 60 Marines, which later embarked at Sheerness.
On 23 March 1796 Captain Theophilus Jones took command.
The crew of the Defiance mutinied for a second time in 1797 during the Spithead mutiny. Captain William Bligh of the Calcutta was ordered to embark 200 troops and take them alongside in order for the troops to board Defiance and regain control, however the threat of the soldiers was sufficient to bring about an end to the mutiny.
Her ship's company mutinied again in 1798 during the rising of the United Irishmen. Eleven men were hanged and ten transported for life in the penal colony of New South Wales.
Her next Captain was Thomas Revell Shivers, who took command in 1799 at Torbay. She joined Rear Admiral Sir James Whitshed's squadron in the Med,and in the June of that year was part of the persuit ofde Bru\x's squadron.
In the summer of 1800, Defiance was attached to the squadron under Sir Alan Gardner, stationed off the Black Rocks. On the 24th of December of that year, Capt. Richard Retallick superseded Capt. Shivers, Defiance being selected for the flagship of Rear AdmiralSir Thomas Graves.
Copenhagen
She fought at the Battle of Copenhagen on the 2nd of April, 1801, as the flagship of Graves, with Captain Retallick commanding her. The station in the line occupied in the battle was abreast of the Crown battery, which mounted thirty-six heavy guns, and was provided with a furnace for heating shot. Owing to the mishaps that kept Bellona, Russell, and Agamemnon from taking up their assigned stations, the Defiance became exposed to a severe cross fire, from which she suffered very severe damage.
In furtherance of the designs of Lord Nelson, when Sir Hyde Parker made the signal to discontinue the action, which Nelson would not see, Rear-Admiral Graves in the Defiance repeated the signal at the lee main topsail yardarm, from whence it could not be seen on board the Elephant. The Defiance continued firing until 3h. 15m. p.m., when the action ceased ; and her spring being cut and sail made, she dropped out of the station she had occupied. Shortly afterwards, the Defiance grounded, and was with difficulty hove off, after starting thirty butts of water. During the action the ship was frequently set on fire by the hot 42-pound shot fired from the batteries, and her damages were consequently serious. Her loss in killed and wounded was as follows Lieutenant George Gray*, Matthew Cobb, pilot, 17 seamen, 3 marines, and 2 soldiers, killed; and the boatswain Lewis Patterson, James Galloway, Midshipman, Harry Niblett, Captain's Clerk, — Stephenson, pilot, 35 seamen, 5 marines, and 7 soldiers, wounded: total, 24 killed, and 51 wounded.
She was paid off late in 1801, and recommissioned in the May of 1803 under Captain Phillip Durham the Channel Fleet.
Battle of Cape Finisterre.
She also participated in Calder's action at the Battle of Cape Finisterre on the 22 of July, 1805, where she suffered only one killed and seven wounded.
Trafalgar.
At the Battle of Trafalgar on the 21st of October, whilst under the command of Captain Philip Charles Durham, he claimed that:-
"she was the fastest 74 gun ship in the British fleet".
During the battle Defiance captured the Spanish San Juan Nepomuceno, and the French Aigle (although the following day the French crew managed to recapture the Aigle from the British prize crew shortly before she was wrecked during the storm of 23 October).
Prior to the boarding of the Aigle by a full boarding party from the Defiance, James "Jack" Spratt dived into the sea from Defiance, swimming with a cutlass between his teeth to the Aigle he climbed in through a stern window and boarded her single handed. He found his way to the French poop deck and threw himself on the French crew, one man against several hundred. In the melee he killed two French seamen, and was grappling with a third when he fell from the poop deck to the main deck, killing his opponent but injuring himself badly. He was saved by the timely arrival of a full boarding party from Defiance.
During the battle of Trafalgar Defiance and sustained casualties of 17 killed, and 53 wounded.
After the battle she was ordered back to Portsmouth for repairs and a refit. This was completed by the April of 1806,when she was recommissioned under Captain Henry Hotham for service in Rear Admiral Robert Stopford's squadron off Rochfort. On the 24th of February, 1809, she took part in the Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne. where she assisted in the destruction of three French 40 gun Frigates, La Cybele, Le Calypso, and L'Italienne.
Battle of the Basque Roads.
In early1809 she was involved in the Basque Roads operations, and thence to Plymouth for repairs. From the August of 1810 she was under Captain Richard Raggett and in 1811 under him as flagship to Rear Admiral John Ferrier in the North Sea.
In 1813 she was transferred to become the Flagship of Rear Admiral George Hope in the Baltic, before returning home to Chatham.
After serving as a prison ship for a short period, from the December of 1813, she went into ordinary in the winter of 1814/15. She was finally broken up there in 1817.
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