She was commissioned by Lt M.T. Hewitt for Captain George Keppel. 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."[2]
Her crew mutinied three times, firstly in October 1795, when she was under the command of Captain Sir George Home. He 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.[3]
The stationing of the Army troops was required because the ship sailed without its contingent of 60 Marines, which later embarked at Sheerness.
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 next Captain was Thomas Revell Shivers, who took command on 27 February 1797 at Torbay
In the summer of 1800, Defiance was attached to the squadron under Sir Alan Gardner, stationed off the Black Rocks. On 24 December 1800, Capt. Richard Retallick superseded Capt. Shivers, Defiance being selected for the flagship of Rear AdmiralSir Thomas Graves.
Defiance at Copenhagen, 1801
She fought at the Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801, as the flagship of Rear Admiral Thomas Graves, with Captain Retallick commanding. 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.[7]
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 maintopsail 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.
At Trafalgar the Defiance captured the Spanish San Juan Nepomuceno,[citation needed] 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).[8][9]
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.[10]
During the battle of Trafalgar Defiance and sustained casualties of 57 killed,[11] and 153 wounded.[citation needed]
Lloyd's List reported in February 1809 that the man-of-war Defiance had sent the French cutter Prudente into Plymouth. Prudente had been on her way from Guadaloupe.[12]
As a part of the Trafalgar Wood Project to commemorate the 33 Royal Navy ships that were at Trafalgar, a wood of 10 acres (40,000m2) was planted in October/November 2005 in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland to honour HMS Defiance.[citation needed]
↑ The United service magazine, London, 1844, p.101
↑ Stewart, William (2014), "Durham, Sir Philip Charles Henderson Calderwood, (1763–1845) (Britain)", Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present, McFarland, p.114, ISBN978-0-7864-8288-7
↑ Adkins, Roy (2011), Trafalgar: The Biography of a Battle, Little, Brown Book Group, p.88, ISBN978-1-4055-1344-9
HMS Bellerophon, known to sailors as the "Billy Ruffian", was a ship of the line of the Royal Navy. A third-rate of 74 guns, she was launched in 1786. Bellerophon served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, mostly on blockades or convoy escort duties. She fought in three fleet actions: the Glorious First of June (1794), the Battle of the Nile (1798) and the Battle of Trafalgar (1805). While the ship was on blockade duty in 1815, Napoleon boarded Bellerophon so he could surrender to the ship's captain, ending 22 years of almost continuous war between Britain and France.
HMS Agamemnon was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy. She saw service in the American Revolutionary War, French Revolutionary, and Napoleonic Wars and fought in many major naval battles. She is remembered as Horatio Nelson's favourite ship, and she was named after the mythical ancient Greek king Agamemnon, the first ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.
HMS Ajax was an Ajax-class 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy. She was built by John Randall & Co of Rotherhithe and launched on the Thames on 3 March 1798. Ajax participated in the Egyptian operation of 1801, the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805 and the Battle of Trafalgar, before she was lost to a disastrous fire in 1807 during the Dardanelles Operation.
HMS Neptune was a 98-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She served on a number of stations during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was present at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
HMS Temeraire was a 98-gun second-rate ship of the line of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. Launched in 1798, she served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, mostly on blockades or convoy escort duties. She fought only one fleet action, the Battle of Trafalgar, but became so well known for that action and her subsequent depictions in art and literature that she has been remembered as The Fighting Temeraire.
HMS Polyphemus, a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 April 1782 at Sheerness. She participated in the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen, the Battle of Trafalgar, and the Siege of Santo Domingo. In 1813 she became a powder hulk and was broken up in 1827.
The Spartiate was originally a French 74-gun ship of the line, launched in 1797. In 1798, she took part in the Battle of the Nile, where she became one of the nine ships captured by the Royal Navy.
Admiral Sir Philip Charles Henderson Calderwood Durham, GCB was a Royal Navy officer whose service in the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars was lengthy, distinguished and at times controversial.
Aigle was a 74-gun French ship of the line built at Rochefort in 1800.
Achille was a Téméraire-class 74-gun French ship of the line built at Rochefort in 1803 after plans by Jacques-Noël Sané.
San Juan Nepomuceno was a Spanish ship of the line launched in 1765 from the royal shipyard in Guarnizo (Cantabria). Like many 18th century Spanish warships she was named after a saint. She was a solidly built ship of proven seaworthy qualities. Captured by the British Royal Navy during the Battle of Trafalgar, the ship was renamed first HMS Berwick, then HMS San Juan. The ship was discarded in 1816.
HMS Swiftsure was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy. She spent most of her career serving with the British, except for a brief period when she was captured by the French during the Napoleonic Wars in the action of 24 June 1801. She fought in several of the most famous engagements of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, fighting for the British at the Battle of the Nile, and the French at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Admiral Sir Henry William Bayntun GCB was a senior officer in the Royal Navy, whose distinguished career in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars was a catalogue of the highest and lowest points of the Navy during the conflict. His record includes extensive operations in the West Indies followed by shipwreck, the battle of Trafalgar and the disastrous expedition to Buenos Aires in 1807.
HMS Edgar was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, that saw service in the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Launched in 1779, she fought in the battles of Cape St Vincent and Copenhagen, two of the major naval engagements of the wars.
HMS Standard was a 64-gun Royal Navy third-rate ship of the line, launched on 8 October 1782 at Deptford. She was the last of the 15 Intrepid-class vessels, which were built to a design by John Williams.
HMS Ardent was a 64–gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 9 April 1796 at Northfleet. She had been designed and laid down for the British East India Company who was going to name her Princess Royal, but the Navy purchased her before launching, for service as a warship in the French Revolutionary War.
HMS Donegal was launched in 1794 as Barra, a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was renamed Pégase in October 1795, and Hoche in December 1797. The British Royal Navy captured her at the Battle of Tory Island on 12 October 1798 and recommissioned her as HMS Donegal.
Commander James Spratt born in Dublin (1771–1853), was an officer in the Royal Navy and became known as one of the heroes of the Battle of Trafalgar. Spratt was also the father of Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt, English vice-admiral, hydrographer and geologist.
Thomas Eyles was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
Captain Joseph Ellison was a Royal Navy officer. Having joined the service at the age of nine, he served during the Falklands Crisis in 1770 and went on to participate in the Battle of Bunker Hill and Siege of Pondicherry during the American Revolutionary War, during which he was promoted to lieutenant. On 4 July 1780 Ellison was serving on board HMS Prudente when they engaged, with another British frigate, two French frigates off Cape Ortegal. Ellison was badly wounded in the back during the battle and had an arm destroyed by a cannon ball that was amputated after the British had attained their victory. Having recuperated from his injuries Ellison was appointed to the impress service where he performed so well that he was promoted to commander in 1782 and post-captain in 1783. He took command of HMS Ariadne in April of that year and served in her off Ireland investigating fisheries, but in September he temporarily retired from the navy when his wounds began to become more problematic.
References
Lavery, Brian (1983) The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN0-85177-252-8.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Great Britain 
