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

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HMS Illustrious (1803)





HMS Illustrious,was a modified Fame Class 74 gun third rate ship of the line designed by Henslow,ordered on the 4th of February, 1800 and built by John Randall and John Brent at Rotherhithe where her keel was laid in February 1801. She was launched on the 3rd of September,1803, and she was then completed at Woolwich.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Illustrious
Ordered:	4 February 1800
Builder:	Randall, Rotherhithe
Launched:	3 September 1803
Fate:	Broken up, 1868
General characteristics
Class and type:	Modified Fame class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1746 (bm)
Length:	175 ft (53 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 6 in (14.48 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	·Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns ·Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns ·QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns ·Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

Service.

She was commissioned in the November of 1803 under Captain Sir Charles Hamilton for the Channel Fleet,. In 1805 under acting Captain Michael Seymour with the aid of HMS Ramillies, she took the 2 gun privateer La Josephine on the 7th of July.

Then under Captain William Shield who commanded her from the end of that month until 1807, she eventually sailed for the Med on the 1st of January 1807, and then came under the command of Captain William Broughton. He would retain command until 1811. Under him she was involved in the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1809, in which she won a battle honour, and in the expeditions against the docks at Antwerp and render the Schelde unnavigable to French ships.

On the 22nd of November, 1810, Illustrious was amongst the fleet that captured Île de France on 3 December. She then took part in the Invasion of Java (1811) in Indonesia.





HMS Illustrious heading out of Table Bay (Thomas Whitcombe, cira 1811)


Fate.

She returned to Portsmouth for major repairs and a complete refit between the December of 1813 and the April of 1817 and was then laid up in reserve until recommissioned in 1832.



Excellent and Illustrious by Henry J Morgan.


Commissioned as a Flagship for Portsmouth in 1841,she was laid up again in 1845, and later used as a guard ship, a hospital ship and, lastly, in 1854 she became a gunnery training ship and continued as one until she was broken up in 1868 in Portsmouth. This was completed on the 4th of December in that year.

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HMS Repulse (1803)



Repulse


HMS Repulse was the name ship of her class which were 74-gun third rate ships of the line designed by Sir William Rule. She was ordered on the 4th of February 1800, and laid down in the September of that year. She was built by Mrs Francis Barnard and Co. at Deptford Green, and launched on the 22nd of July,1803.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Repulse
Ordered:	4 February 1800
Builder:	Barnard, Deptford
Laid down:	September 1800
Launched:	22 July 1803
Fate:	Broken up, 1820
Notes:	·Participated in: ·Battle of Cape Finisterre
General characteristics
Class and type:	Repulse class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1727 ​23⁄94 (bm)
Length:	174 ft (53 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 4 in (14.43 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft (6.1 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	·74 guns: ·Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs ·Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs ·Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs ·Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs

Service.

HMS Repulse was commissioned in the July of 1803 under Captain Arthur Legge who commanded her until 1807, from the November of that year as the Flagship of Rear Admiral Thomas Russell at Yarmouth.

She served at the blockade of Ferrol in 1805, and was at the action resulting in the Battle of Cape Finisterre on the 22nd of August of that year. Despite having her Bowsprit shot away, her casualty list was light, amounting to just four wounded.

During 1806 Repulse was employed in going in search of Leissegues and Willaumez.

In 1807 the ship served in the Mediterranean squadron under Vice-Admiral John Thomas Duckworth and Vice-Admiral Harry Riddick during both the Dardanelles Operation, and in the Alexandria expedition.

In 1809 she experienced her first chang of captain, when John Halliday took over from Legge for the Walcheren operations, and then sailed for the Med under his command, and subsequently took part in the blockade of Toulon, and on the 31st of August in that year, the rescue of Philomel.

In 1811 Repulse had her third commander in the form of Captain Richard Hussey Moubray. Still in the Med she was involved in the boat attack on Morgion on the 2nd of May, 1813.

Fate.

Repulse was paid off in the June of 1814, fitted for ordinary at Plymouth in the following month and finally broken up there in the September of 1820.

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HMS Eagle (1804)




Eagle.


HMS Eagle was a Repulse Class 74-gun third rateship of the line,designed by Sir William Rule and ordered on the 4th of February 1800. She was laid down in the August of that year, and built by Thomas Pitcher at Northfleet. She was launched on the 27th of February, 1804.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Eagle
Ordered:	4 February 1800
Builder:	Pitcher, Northfleet
Laid down:	August 1800
Launched:	27 February 1804
Fate:	Burnt, 1926
General characteristics
Class and type:	Repulse class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1923 (bm)
Length:	174 ft (53 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 4 in (14.43 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft (6.1 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	·Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns ·Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns ·QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns ·Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

Service.


HMS Eagle was commissioned in the February of 1804 under Captain David Colby for the Leeward Islands.
On 11 November 1804, Glatton, together with Eagle, Majestic, Princess of Orange, Raisonable, Africiane, Inspector, Beaver, and the hired armed vesselsSwift and Agnes, shared in the capture of the Upstalsboom, H.L. De Haase, Master.
On the 2nd of April,1805 she took the 14 gun privateer L’Empereur.

Recommissioned in the November of that year under Captain Charles Cowley, who was destined to command her until 1813,she joined Sir Wm Sidney Smith’s squadron off Naples and Capri in the May of 1806.

Between the February and April of 1806 she returned to Portsmouth for a refit, and in the February of 1810 she returned to the Med.
On the 27th of November, 1811 she captured the 40 gun La Coreyre, armed en flute, in the Adriatic sea.

During 1812/ 13 period Eagle was involved in two boat attacks on Goro. The first took place on the 17th of September when two gunboats were taken and several others burnt. The second attack in the 29th of April in 1813 saw five vessels captured and one other burnt. Following this escapade a landing party from the ship destroyed a battery at Farasina on the 11th of June in that year. By the 3rd of July she had joined Freemantles squadron at Fiume, and accompanied by the Fifth Rate HMS Bacchante a convoy was captured at Rovingo on the second of August. From the 5th to the 29th of October she was involved in operations at Triest. Following this she returned to Chatham for a large repair between the June of 1814 and the September of 1816, after which she went into ordinary there.

A small repair followed between the October and December of 1823, and the a complete revamp and cut down into a Fourth Rate 50 gun Frigate between the February of 1830 and the March of 1831.

She was finally recommissioned for sea in the November of 1844 under Captain George Martin for service in North America and the West Indies until 1847. On her return to England she was fitted at Plymouth for Coastguard service from the October of 1856 until February 1857, and then departed for Falmouth, and then Milford in the February of 1858.

Between the June and the September of 1860 she was fitted as a training drill ship at Portsmouth for use in Southampton Water.
She was paid off on the 30th of June 1862,at Liverpool and then becoming an RNR Drill ship.

She was lent to the Mersey Division of the RNR in 1912.

Fate.

HMS Eagle was renamed HMS Eaglet in 1918, when she became the Royal Naval Reserve training centre for North West England. In 1926 a fire destroyed the ship, and the wreck was sold to J Hornby for breaking up on the 4th of January 1927.

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HMS Swiftsure (1804)

HMS Swiftsure was a 74-gun third-rateship of the line, designed by Sir John Henslow, ordered on the16th of August,1800 and built by Balthazar and Edward Adams at Bucklers Hard. Her Keel was laid in the August of 1802 and she was launched on the 23rd of July,1804.




Swiftsure

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Swiftsure
Ordered:	1800
Builder:	Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard
Laid down:	February 1802
Launched:	23 July 1804
Honours and awards:	Participated in: Battle of Trafalgar
Fate:	Sold out of the service, 1845
Notes:	Receiving ship from 1819
General characteristics
Class and type:	Swiftsure classship of the line
Tons burthen:	1724 (bm)
Length:	173 ft (53 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 6 in (14.48 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft 9 in (6.32 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

Service.



HMS Swiftsure was commissioned in the August of 1805 by Captain Mark Robinson for the Channel, and found herself off Cadiz where she took part in the chase to the West Indies under Captain William Gordon Rutherford. On her return she fought at Trafalgar in the lee column. During the battle she and Polyphemus gave succour to the Belleisle which had been grievously mauled during the first four hours of the battle. By mid afternoon when the Redoutable finally surrendered it was the Swiftsure who took her in tow. By noon on the 22nd it was clear that the French ship was foundering and 119 of her crew were taken off and saved. During the entire battle Swiftsure suffered only eight killed and nine wounded.

She was paid off in 1807 and then recommission- ed in that same year under Captain John Conn as the Flagship of Vice Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren and sailed for North America on the 8th of December in that year. Conn was unfortunately drowned in the May of 1810 and she was taken over by Captain Charles Austin for the remainder of her commission.

Swiftsure underwent a repair on her return to England in 1811. The work at Chatham taking from the March until September of that year, She was recommissioned under Captain Robert Lloyd, as the Flagship of Vice Admiral Herbert Sawyer on the North American station. She came under the captaincy of Lord John Colvill in the August of that year, and then sailed for the Med in the November.
By 1812 she was under Captain Temple Hardy and in the August of that year Captain Edward Dickson until 1814 when she became the Flagship of Vice Admiral John Laugharne once more in the Med. By the September of that year she was back in the West Indies under Captain William Webley.

Fate.
Back at Portsmouth by the August of 1815 she was paid off, and went into ordinary. From 1819 until 1845, she remained at Portsmouth having been fitted as a receiving ship, but In the September of 1844, having been moved she heeled over and sank at Portchester. In the November of that year, she commenced use as a target ship by HMS Excellent. She was sold out of the service and broken up by Barnard on the 18th of October, 1845.







Barker family memorial in St Peter's Church, Edensor with reference to HMS Swiftsure and Trafalgar

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HMS FAME (1805)



Fame



HMS Fame was a 74-gun third rateship of the line, the name ship of her class, designed by Sir John Henslow, ordered on the 15th of October 1799, and built at Deptford Dockyard by M/shipwright Edward Tippett until the March of 1803 and then completed by Henry Peake . She was constructed on the same building slip as was HMS Courageux, her keel having been ordered to be laid down on it immediately after the other ship's launch on the 26th of March,1800. The first elements of her keel were not finally laid down until the 22nd of January 1802, and Fame was launched on the 8th of October, 1805.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Fame
Ordered:	15 October 1799
Builder:	Deptford Dockyard
Laid down:	22 January 1802
Launched:	8 October 1805
Fate:	Broken up, 1817
General characteristics
Class and type:	Fame Class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1745 (bm)
Length:	175 ft (53 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 8 in (14.53 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	·74 guns: ·Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs ·Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs ·Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs ·Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs

Service.

HMS Fame was commissioned inthe October of 1805 by Captain Graham Moore.
In the May of 1806 she was placed under the command of Captain Richard Bennett from then until 1809. By the Autumn of 1806 she was in the squadron of Sir John Borlase Warren in the pursuit of Willaumez, and then sailed for the Med on the 28th of June 1807, and then back to the Channel later in that year.

In the November of 1808, whilst still under the command of Captain Bennet, Fame joined a squadron lying off Rosas, where Captain Lord Cochrane was assisting the Spanish in the defence of Castell de la Trinitat against the invading French army. Boats from Fame helped evacuate Cochrane's garrison forces after the fort's surrender on the 5th of December.

During 1810 Fame came under the command of two new Captains. First it was Captain Philip Hornby, and then by the November of that year Captain Walter Bathurst until 1814.She sailed to the Med in 1811 and just for for a month from October to November came under acting Captain Abel Ferris before reverting to Bathurst again.

Fate.

Fame was laid up in ordinary at Chatham in1815, where she was broken up in the September of 1817.

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HMS Revenge (1805)





HMS Revenge at Gosport


HMS Revenge was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line, designed by Sir John Henslow as one of the large class 74s; she was the only ship built to her draught. As a large 74, she carried 24-pounder guns on her upper gun deck, rather than the 18-pounder guns found on the middling and common class 74s. Ordered on the 26th of October 1796, her keel was laid in the August of 1800, at Chatham Dockyard and built by M/Shipwright Edward Sison until the July of 1801, then David Polhill until the March of 1803 and finally completed by Robert Seppings. Revenge was launched on the 13th of April, 1805.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Revenge
Ordered:	29 September 1796
Builder:	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down:	August 1800
Launched:	13 April 1805
Honours and awards:	Participated in: Battle of Trafalgar
Fate:	Broken up, 1849
General characteristics
Class and type:	74-gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1954 (bm)
Length:	181 ft 11 in (55.4 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	49 ft 2 in (15.0 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft 9 in (6.3 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	·Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns ·Upper gundeck: 30 × 24-pounder guns ·QD: 12 × 9-pounder guns ·Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

Service.


HMS Revenge was commissioned in the April of 1805 by Captain Robert Moorsom,for the Channel Fleet.


On the 21st of October, she fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, where she sailed in the lee coloumn under Comodore Collingwood. During the battle she lost 28 dead and 51 wounded.


She was refitted at Portsmouth between the December of 1805 and February of 1806 and recommissioned under Captain Charles Flemming, On completion of the refit she came under the command of Captain Sir John Gore, who commanded her until 1807.


She was involved in a boat attack on shipping in the Gironde on the 16th of July, 1806, and then in Sir Samuel Hood’s action off Rochefort on the 25th of September in that same year.


On the 26th of February,1807 Revenge sailed for the Med for the blockade of Cadiz.


From the August of 1808 she came under the captaincy of Charles Paget until 1810. Revenge was engaged at the Battle of Basque Roads in April 1809 where she suffered 5 killed and 13 wounded temporally under Captain Alexander Robert Kerr.


Then she was returned to England, now temporally under Captain John Bligh, and then was involved in the Walcheran expedition.


On the 10th of June, 1810 Revenge sailed with an East Indies convoy. And in the October of that year, now under Captain Sir John Gore she captured the French privateer cutter Vauteur off Cherbourg after a five-hour chase. Vauteur had been armed with 16 guns, but she threw 14 of them overboard in an attempt to outrun her pursuer. She had been out of Dieppe for 45 hours but had as yet made no captures. She was the former British cutter John Bull, of Plymouth, and was restored to Plymouth on the 19th of October. The report in Lloyd's List announcing this news appears to have confused names. Vauteur appears to have been Vengeur. There is no account of Revenge capturing a Vauteur, but on the 17th of October, Revenge captured the French privateer lugger Vengeur, off Cherbourg. The lugger crossed to windward of Revenge before daylight, and Revenge gave chase, finally capturing her quarry after three hours. Vengeur was armed with 16 guns and had a crew of 78 men. She was one day out of Dieppe and had not taken any prizes.


On the 6th of November, Donegal captured the privateer Surcouf. Revenge, Donegal, and the hired armed lugger Sandwich would share in the prize money for Vengeur and Surcouf.


On the 13th of Novemberof that same year, the frigates Diana and Niobe attacked two French frigates (Elisa and Amazone), which sought protection under the shore batteries near Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. Revenge and Donegal arrived two days later and together the four ships fired upon the French for as long as the tide would allow. The operation cost Donegal three men wounded. Élisa was driven ashore and ultimately destroyed as a result of this action; Amazone escaped safely into Le Havre.


In 1811 came temporally under a Captain Nash, before having a refit at Portsmouth from the April to the june of that year.Then under Captain Charles Bateman she became the Flagship of Rear Admiral Arthur Legge and returned to the Med.


Fate.


In the August of1814 she was paid off into ordinary at Chatham, and underwent a large repair, having a circular stern fittedfor a Flag officer on foreign service.


In the May of 1827 she became a guardshipat Portsmouth, and then as one at Plymouth from 1830 to 1831. Returning to Portsmouth in 1838 she became a demonstration ship. Re rated as a 76 in 1839, she was recommissioned in 1840 under Captain William Waldegrave for the bombardment of Acre on the 3rd of November 1840.


Paid off in 1842 at sheerness she was surveyed there in the April of that year and broken up in the October of that year.

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HMS Magnificent (1806)






HMS Magnificent was a Revived Repulse Class 74-gun third rate ship of the line designed by Sir William Rule and ordered on the 24th of January 1805. The keel was laid down in the April of that year and she was built by Perry, Wells and Green at Blackwall Yard. She was launched on the 30th of August, 1806.

History
GREAT BRITAIN.
Name:		HMS Magnificent
Ordered:		31 January 1805
Builder:		Perry, Wells & Green, Blackwall
Laid down:		April 1805
Launched:		30 August 1806
Fate:		Sold, 1843
General characteristics
Class and type:	Revived Repulse Class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1732 ​3⁄94 (bm))
Length:	174 ft (53 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 4 in (14.43 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft (6.1 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: 4 × 12 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades ·Poop deck: 6 × 18 pdr carronades

Service.

HMS Magnificent was commissioned in the September of 1806 under Captain George Eyre who commanded her until 1811.
She sailed to the Med via Cadiz on the 3rd of June in that year.
Between 1809 and 1810 she was in the Adriatic, and in the April of 1810 took part in the capture of Santa Maura.

She was bask in England by the Autumn of 1811, and underwent repairs at Plymouth between the February and May of 1812. She was recomissioned under Captain Willoughby Lake for operations on the coast of Spain under temporary Captain John Hayes. She then took part in the attack on Santander in the August of that year.




This representation of His Majesty's Ship Magnificent, 74 Guns. Showing (after cutting the Cables in a S.W. Gale) making sail , 17th Dec 1812 . dedicated to John Hayes, Capt.

She then returned to the channel, and was paid off in 1814.

Magnificent was fitted as a hospital ship at Portsmouth between the August and December of 1825 for service in Jamacia.

Fate.

In the May of 1828 she was commissioned as a receiving ship at Rio which service she carried out until 1842.
She was then hulked, and eventually sold out of the service in Jamaica, being broken up there on the 10th of January,1843.