HMS Eagle (1804)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Eagle and HMS Eaglet.

Plan drawing of Eagle
History
United Kingdom
Name	Eagle
Ordered	4 February 1800
Builder	Pitcher, Northfleet
Laid down	August 1800
Launched	27 February 1804
Renamed	Eaglet, 1918
Reclassified	As a training ship, 1860
Fate	Burnt, 1926
General characteristics
Class & type	Repulse-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1,723 21⁄94 (bm)
Length	174 ft (53 m) (gundeck)
Beam	47 ft 7 in (14.5 m)
Draught	17 ft 6 in (5.3 m) (light)
Depth of hold	20 ft (6.1 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	590
Armament	74 muzzle-loading, smoothbore guns Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdr guns Upper deck: 28 × 18 pdr guns Quarterdeck: 2 × 18 pdr guns + 12 × 32 pdr carronades Forecastle: 2 × 18 pdr guns + 2 × 32 pdr carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18 pdr carronades

HMS Eagle was a 74-gun third-rate Repulse-class ship of the line built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 19th century. Completed in 1804, she played a minor role in the Napoleonic Wars.

Description

Eagle measured 174 feet (53 m) on the gundeck and 143 feet 1 inch (43.6 m) on the keel. She had a beam of 47 feet 7 inches (14.5 m), a depth of hold of 20 feet (6.1 m) and had a tonnage of 1,723 21⁄94 tons burthen. The ship's draught was 13 feet 3 inches (4.0 m) forward and 17 feet 6 inches (5.3 m) aft at light load; fully loaded, her draught would be significantly deeper. The Repulse-class ships were armed with 74 muzzle-loading, smoothbore guns that consisted of twenty-eight 32-pounder guns on her lower gundeck and twenty-eight 18-pounder guns on her upper gundeck. Their forecastle mounted a pair of 18-pounder guns and two 32-pounder carronades. On their quarterdeck they carried two 18-pounders and a dozen 32-pounder carronades. Above the quarterdeck was their poop deck with half-a-dozen 18-pounder carronades. ^[1]

Construction and career

HMS Eagle was the fourteenth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. ^[2] She was ordered on 4 February 1800 from Thomas Pitcher as part of the first batch of three Repulse-class ships of the line designed by Sir William Rule, co-Surveyor of the Navy. The ship was laid down at Pitcher's shipyard in Northfleet in August and was launched on 27 February 1804. She was commissioned by Captain David Colby that same month. ^{[3] [1]} On 31 March, she was driven ashore and severely damaged at Northfleet. She was taken into dock for repairs. ^[4] Eagle was completed at Woolwich Dockyard on 3 May. ^[1]

On 11 November 1804, Glatton, together with Eagle, Majestic, Princess of Orange, Raisonable, Africiane, Inspector, Beaver, and the hired armed vessels Swift and Agnes, shared in the capture of the Upstalsboom, H.L. De Haase, Master. ^{[Note 1]}

Eagle returned to the Downs in early 1814. In January 1815 she was in Chatham dockyard undergoing repair. In 1830 she was reduced to a 50-gun ship. In November 1844 Capt. George B. Martin commissioned her for service on the West Indies and North American station. She was back in Devonport by 1848. In 1860 she was employed by the Coast Guard service at Milford Haven.

She was renamed HMS Eaglet in 1918, when she was the Royal Naval Reserve training centre for North West England. A fire destroyed Eagle in 1926. ^[3]

Eagle and Fort Munden, seen from the Landing Place, St Helena, painting by William Innes Pocock, a lieutenant onboard

Notes

1. The prize money for an ordinary seaman was 10d. ^[5]

References

1. Winfield, p. 75
2. Colledge, Warlow & Bush, p. 387
3. Lavery, p. 185
4. "(untitled)". The Times. No. 5987. London. 3 April 1804. col. C, p. 2.
5. "No. 16322". The London Gazette . 5 December 1809. p. 1960.
6. "Simon's Bay from the Town - National Maritime Museum".

Bibliography

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben & Bush, Steve (2020). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (5th revised and updated ed.). Seaforth Publishing. ISBN   978-1-5267-9327-0.
• Lavery, Brian (1984). The Ship of the Line. Vol. 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650-1850. Naval Institute Press. ISBN   0-85177-252-8.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates (2nd, revised ed.). Seaforth. ISBN   978-1-84415-717-4.