3rd Rate ships of the Royal Navy. 1793 to 1815.

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HMS Indus (1812)

HMS Indus was a Peake and Rule designed Armada Class 74 gun third rate ship of the line, built by John Dudman at Deptford Warf. Ordered on the 31st of July, 1807,she was laid down in the April of 1809 and launched on the19th of December,1812. Completion took place between the 29th of December of that year and the 30th of March 1813 at Woolwich.


Indus

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Indus
Ordered:	31 July 1807
Builder:	Dudman, Deptford Warf
Laid down:	April 1809
Launched:	19 December 1812
Fate:	Broken up, 1868
General characteristics
Class and type:	Armada Class 74 gun ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1756 (bm)
Length:	176 ft 3.5 in (54 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 8 in (14.48 m)
Depth of hold:	21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 4 × 12 pdrs, 10 × 32 pdr Carronades Forecastle: 2 × 12 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr Carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18 pdr Carronades

Service.

HMS Indus was commissioned by Captain William Gage in the February of 1813 for service in the North Sea. In 1814 she sailed for the Med, returning in the August of that year to be laid up at Plymouth.

On the third of November 1818 by Admiralty Orders she was renamed Bellona and during the following year underwent a middling repair at Plymouth taking from the April of that year until the December of 1820 at a cost of £32,731. She was then housed over from her Main mast forrard.

Between 1841 and 1842 she was fitted as a receiving ship.

Fate.

By Admiralty Orders issued on the 28th of April 1868 the ship was eventually broken up. This work being completed on the 27th of June in that same year.

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HMS Benbow (1813)


HMS Benbowdepicted on a vase.

HMS Benbow was a Peake and Rule designed Amazon Class, 74 gun, ship of the line, built by Samuel and Daniel Brent of Rotherhithe. She was ordered on the 11th of June 1808, laid down in the July of that year and launched on the 3rd of February, 1813. Completion took place, at Deptford and fitting out at Woolwich between the 6th of February and the 17th of May of that year.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Benbow
Ordered:	11 June 1808
Builder:	Brent, Rotherhithe
Laid down:	July 1808
Launched:	3 February 1813
Fate:	Broken up, 1895
Notes:	Coal hulk from August 1859
General characteristics
Class and type:	Armada Class, 74 gun ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1773 (bm)
Length:	176 ft 3.5 in (54 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 11 in (14.48 m)
Depth of hold:	21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounders Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounders Quarterdeck: 4 × 12-pounders, 10 × 32-pounder Carronades Forecastle: 2 × 12-pounders, 2 × 32-pounder Carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18-pounder Carronades

Service.
HMS Benbow was commissioned by Captain Richard Pearson in the April of 1813. She was laid up at Portsmouth in the September of the following year and went into ordinary until 1839. During this time she underwent middling to large repairs costing £55,834 and was fitted as a demonstration ship from the February of 1836 to the July of 1837.


Study of HMS 'Benbow in Portsmouth Harbour, 1826

Between the April and June of 1839 she was fitted for sea at a cost of £14,600 and was recommissioned under Captain Houston Stewart for service in the Med. In 1840 Benbow saw action in the bombardment of the city of Acre under the command of Admiral Robert Stopford on the 3rd of November in that year. At the height of the battle either Benbow or the naval steamer HMS Gorgon fired the shell that destroyed Acre's powder magazine, causing an explosion that greatly wreaked havoc on the city's defences.
On her return to England she was laid up at Sheerness in the May of 1842. She was fitted as a Marine Barracks at Woolwich for use at Sheerness in the February of 1848 and then as a prison ship for Russians in the September of 1854.


Benbow as a prison hulk

Fate.

In the August of 1859, she was converted to be used as a coal hulk at Chatham for Sheerness. In 1892, after 79 years of service, she was sold out of the Navy to Castle, and was broken up in 1895 at Woolwich.


The breaking up of Benbow.

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HMS Cornwallis (1813)


Leaving Plymouth harbour

HMS Cornwallis was a Peake and Rule designed Armada Class, 74 gun third rate ship of the line, built by M/shipwright Jamsetjee Bomanjee at Bombay Dockyard. Ordered on the 25th of July, 1810, and laid down in 1811, she was launched on the 12th of May, 1813 at Bombay. Like so many Indian built ships Cornwallis was built of teak. The unfortunate capture of the Java by USS Constitution delayed the completion of Cornwallis as Java had been bringing her copper sheathing from England.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Cornwallis
Ordered:	25 July 1810
Builder:	Jamsetjee Bomanjee Wadia, Bombay Dockyard
Laid down:	1812
Launched:	12 May 1813
Fate:	Broken up, 1957
General characteristics
Class and type:	Armada Class 74 gun ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1809 (bm)
Length:	176 ft (54 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 6 in (14.48 m)
Depth of hold:	21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 4 × 12 pdrs, 10 × 32 pdr Carronades Forecastle: 2 × 12 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr Carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18 pdr Carronades

Service.

HMS Cornwallis was placed under the command of Captain Henry Edghill for passage to England. She arrived at Deal on the 31st of May, 1814, having escorted several East Indiamen, including the Baring, Charles Mills, and Fairlie, plus two whalers, which included the Indispensable. From there she sailed to Portsmouth where she arrived on the 9th of June. Her completion took place there between the October of 1814 and the 25th of December in that year.
She was commissioned in the December of that year under Captain John Bayley as the Flagship of Rear Admiral George Burlton who unfortunately died on the 21st of September, 1815. However prior to this on the 27th of April, Cornwallis engaged the American 20 gun sloop USS Hornet, which had mistaken Cornwallis for a merchant ship. Heavily outgunned, Hornet was forced to retire, the crew having jettisoned boats, guns and other equipment in order to escape.

On her return to Plymouth later in the year, Cornwallis was placed in ordinary until 1832 when she was fitted for commission but not for sea.
Between the March and June of 1836 she was finally fitted for sea at a cost of £10,102, and in the following February commissioned for service in North America and the West Indies until the year 1839. She was then fitted as a demonstration ship from the July anf August of that year.
Between the April and July of 1841 she was fitted for sea at Plymouth for £10,971 and dispatched to the East Indies to take part in the First China war.


HMS Cornwallis and the British squadron in China

After China's defeat in the First Opium War, representatives from the British and Qing Empires negotiated a peace treaty aboard HMS Cornwallis in Nanjing. On the 29th of August, 1842, British representative Sir Henry Pottinger and Qing representatives, Qiying, Yilibu and Niujian, signed the Treaty of Nanking aboard her, in which China paid the British an indemnity, ceded the territory of Hong Kong, and agreed to establish a “fair and reasonable” tariff.



Treaty of Nanking

In 1852 Cornwallis was fitted as an Army depot ship intended for Hong Kong, but never dispatched.
Cornwallis was fitted with screw propulsion and reduced to 60 gun blockship in 1855, at a cost of £39521. This included £12,039 to Penn for machinery. The work was carried out between the October of 1854 and the April of 1855. She was then recommissioned for operations in the Baltic during the second year of the Crimean War, where she was commanded by George Wellesley, the nephew of the Duke of Wellington, and destined to become a future Admiral and First Sea Lord.
On the 6th of August, Cornwallis took part in the bombardment of Sveaborg. The Anglo-French fleet lead by Admirals Richard S. Dundas on Duke of Wellington and Charles Penaud on Tourville arrived at Sveaborg and grouped themselves at an appropriate distance from the fortress. In the morning of August the 9th they began shelling the fortress. The fire from the fleet was extremely severe, whilst the cannons in Sveaborg were so outdated, that they only could return the fire at a close range and were not able to reach the ships.


The bombardment of Sveaborg.

Following the conclusion of hostilities Cornwallis was engaged in Coast Guard service on the Humber from 1857 to 1864.

Fate.

She was hulked as a Jetty at Sheerness in 1865. In the March of 1916 she was renamed HMS Wildfire and used as a base ship. She was finally broken up there in 1957, some 144 years after her launching.

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HMS Blenheim (1813)


HMS Blenheim

HMS Blenheim was a Peake and Rule designed Armada Class 74 gun Third rate ship of the line, built by M/shipwright Robert Nelson at Deptford Dockyard. Ordered on the 4th of January, 1808, and laid down in the August of that year, she was launched on the 31st of May, 1813 and completed between the 10th of June and the 22nd of July in that same year at Woolwich.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Blenheim
Ordered:	4 January 1808
Builder:	Deptford Dockyard
Laid down:	August 1808
Launched:	31 May 1813
Fate:	Broken up, 1865
General characteristics
Class and type:	Armada Class 74 gun ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1747 tons (bm)
Length:	175 ft 9in (54 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 8 in (14.49 m)
Depth of hold:	21 ft 0.5 in (6.4 m)
Propulsion:	Sails, 1847 Steam Screw
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 4 × 12-pounder guns + 10 × 32-pounder Carronades Fc: 2 × 12-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder Carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18-pounder Carronades

Service.

HMS Blenheim was commissioned by Captain Samuel Warren in the June of 1813, and in the following year proceeded to the Med.
1n 1815 she was paid off and went into ordinary at Chatham, and later at Sheerness. Between the May of 1820 and the December of 1824 she was at Woolwich undergoing a large repair at a cost of £41,484, and thence to Portsmouth in 1830. Blenheim was placed on harbour service in 1831.


HMS Blenheim 1825?
https://military.wikia.org/wiki/HMS_Blenheim_(1813)

Used as a demonstration ship at Sheerness between the January and June of 1836, she was next fitted for sea service there between the April and the July of 1839.
Recommissioned in the April of 1839 for the China War , her Captain, Humphrey Fleming Stenhouse, died on board Blenheim on the morning of the 13th of June,1841, from fever contracted during operations at Canton in the preceding month.
By Admiralty Orders, issued on the 20th of October 1845, HMS Blenheim was converted to a screw blockship by Wigram at Blackwall between the November of that year and the March of 1847 with the machinery provided by Stewart for a total cost of £ 58,798.

On the 20th of March, Blenheim was in collision with the British Brig Cactus on the River Thames and was driven ashore on the Essex bank. The tug Monkey attempted to refloat her, but Blenheim and the tug collided and Blenheim was next driven into the Brig Agility, which was severely damaged. Monkey assisted in beaching Agility on the Essex bank to prevent her from sinking. Blenheim subsequently was refloated and moved to Woolwich where she was fitted for sea between the end of March and the May of that year. After transferring to Portsmouth, she was again fitted for sea between the Janury and March of 1854. Later that year she again saw service in the Baltic, in her new guise as as a 60 gun steam powered screw vessel. During this service a 32-pounder cannonball struck and became embedded in her mast in 1855.


Mast with cannonball from 1855, on exhibit at the National Maritime Museum Greenwich.


Fate.

After her return to England, in the May of 1858 she was fitted as a coastguard ship at Portsmouth. Blenheim then transferred to Portland where she remained until 1860. She then transferred to Pembroke until 1865 when the ship was broken up.

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HMS Vindictive (1813)


HMS Vindictive

HMS Vindictive was a Peake and Rule Armada Class 74 gun third rate ship of the line, built by M/shipwright Nicholas Diddams at Portsmouth Dockyard. Ordered on the 13th of January, 1806, she was laid down in the July of 1808, and launched on the 30th of November, 1813. She was completed and went straight into ordinary in the December of that year.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Vindictive 1813
Ordered:	15 January 1806
Builder:	Portsmouth Dockyard
Laid down:	July 1808
Launched:	30 November 1813
Fate:	Sold, 1871
General characteristics
Class and type:	Armada Class 74 gun ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1757 (bm)
Length:	176 ft 2 in (53.70 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 8.5 in (14.542 m)
Depth of hold:	21 ft (6.4 m)
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 4 × 12 pdrs, 10 × 32 pdr Carronades Forecastle: 2 × 12 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr Carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18 pdr Carronades

Service.

Vindictive was the lead ship of the 40-vessel Armada class. In fact she was ordered prior to the design for this class being finalized; however, she was delayed in construction, and was not completed until the December of 1813. With the end of the Napoleonic War in prospect, she was not required for active service and was immediately placed into ordinary. In the December of 1816 she was fitted for the use of the Cin C of the ordinary. From 1828 to 1833, Vindictive still in ordinary, had been reduced to a 50 gun fourth rate by the October of 1832. and having been fitted for sea at Portsmouth, Vindictive was finally commissioned in the September of 1841. On the 26th of January 1842, she ran aground on The Dean, in the Channel off the Isle of Wight. She was refloated the next day. She was laid up in ordinary again in the June of 1848 at Portsmouth.

Fate.



In 1861 she was fitted as a Storeship by J. Samuel White of Cowes, and in 1862 she proceeded to Fernando Po. where she took up that role. She foundered there in July 1871, the wreck being sold to be broken up on 24 November 1871.

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HMS Rochefort (1814)


Rochefort during the internment of Sir Thomas Freemantle on the 22nd of December, 1819, at Baia Bay, Naples.


HMS Rochefort was a Jean-Louis Barrallier designed Rochefort Class, 74 gun third rate ship of the line She was built at Milford Haven by M/shipwright William Stone from the 1st of July,1810 until the 9th of June, 1813, and thereafter briefly Henry Canham until the 16th of August of that year, the ship being completed by Edward Churchill. Ordered on the 1st of June, 1809, she was laid down in the the August of that year, and launched on the 6th of August, 1814. She was designed by the French émigré Jean-Louis Barrallier, and was the only ship built to her draught, the only other vessel ordered being the Sandwich which was cancelled on the 22nd of March 1811.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Rochfort
Ordered:	1 June 1809
Builder:	Barrallier, Milford Haven
Laid down:	August 1809
Launched:	6 August 1814
Fate:	Broken up, 1826
General characteristics
Class and type:	Rochefort Class 74 gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	2081 (bm)
Length:	192 ft 8.5 in (58.738 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	49 ft 4.5 in (15.050 m)
Depth of hold:	21 ft 10 in (6.4 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full Rigged ship
Armament:	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs QD: 4 × 12 pdrs, 10 × 32 pdr Carronades Fc: 2 × 12 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr Carronades PD: 6 × 18 pdr Carronades

Service.

HMS Rochefort was commissioned by Captain Sir Archibald Dixon on the 7th of August 1815, for the Med, as Flagship to Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Freemantle between 1816 and 1819. In 1818 command was taken over by Captain Sir Andrew Green.

From the May of that year she temporarily became a guardship at Portsmouth. In August she underwent a small repair and was refitted for sea service still under Captain Green. Admiral Freemantle died in the December of 1819. The Rochefort was placed under the command of Captain Charles Marsh Schomberg in the April of 1820 as Flagship to Vice Admiral Sir graham Moore, and sailed once more to the Med on the 11th of August,1820.

Fate.

This was destined to be her last voyage as she was paid off in the April of 1824 and Rochfort was broken up at Chatham. The work being completed on the 20th of June, 1826.

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HMS Redoubtable (1815)



HMS Redoubtable

HMS Redoubtable was a Peake and Rule designed Armada Class,74 gun third rate ship of the line, built by M/shipwright Edward Sison at Woolwich Dockyard. Ordered on the 29th of December, 1806 and laid down in the April of 1809, she was launched on the 26th of 26 January, 1815. She had been completed by the September of 1814 but was left on the slip to season. She sailed to Sheerness on the 4th of April 1815.


Redoubtable

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Redoubtable
Ordered:	29 December 1806
Builder:	Woolwich Dockyard
Laid down:	April 1809
Launched:	26 January 1815
Fate:	Broken up, 1841
General characteristics
Class and type:	Armada Class 74 gun ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1759 (bm)
Length:	176 ft (54 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 6 in (14.48 m)
Depth of hold:	21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 4 × 12 pdrs, 10 × 32 pdr Carronades Forecastle: 2 × 12 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr Carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18 pdr Carronades

Service.

HMS Redoubtable was never commissioned.
She underwent a small repair at Chatham between the July of 1819 and the September of 1820 at a cost of £15,420. She was thereafter, housed at Sheerness in ordinary.

Fate.

Redoubtable was broken up in the May of 1841 at Chatham.