HMS Magnificent (1806)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Magnificent.

A painting of Magnificient in a storm
History
United Kingdom
Name	Magnificent
Ordered	31 January 1805
Builder	Perry, Wells & Green, Blackwall Yard
Laid down	April 1805
Launched	30 August 1806
Commissioned	September 1806
Fate	Sold, 1843
General characteristics
Class & type	Repulse-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1,732 3⁄94 (bm)
Length	174 ft 2 in (53.1 m) (gundeck)
Beam	47 ft 8 in (14.5 m)
Draught	18 ft 3 in (5.6 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 Magnificent 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 1806, she played a minor role in the Napoleonic Wars.

Description

Magnificent measured 174 feet 2 inches (53.1 m) on the gundeck and 143 feet 1 inch (43.6 m) on the keel. She had a beam of 47 feet 8 inches (14.5 m), a depth of hold of 20 feet (6.1 m) and had a tonnage of 1,732 3⁄94 tons burthen. The ship's draught was 13 feet 3 inches (4.0 m) forward and 18 feet 3 inches (5.6 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

Magnificent was the second ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. ^[2] She was ordered on 24 January 1805 from Perry, Wells & Green as part of the second batch of five Repulse-class ships of the line designed by Sir William Rule, co-Surveyor of the Navy. The ship was laid down at their shipyard in Blackwall Yard in April and was launched on 30 August 1806. She was commissioned by Captain George Eyre in September and completed at Woolwich Dockyard by 24 October. ^{[3] [4]}

On 21 March 1810, she participated in the expedition against the island of St Maura in the Adriatic.

From June to August 1812, she was off the coast of Northern Spain, in support of operations to expel Bonapartist forces from Spain. From 30 July to 1 August, she launched an attack on Santander. ^[5]

She was among a convoy of vessels that had departed from Cork and Portsmouth in September, which arrived at Jamaica on 12 November 1814. ^{[6] [7]} With the departure of Vice Admiral Cochrane on 29 November 1814, she was the most senior vessel in Jamaica, her commanding officer Willoughby Lake was deputised to carry on the duties of Senior officer on the Jamaica station. ^[8] She was among a convoy of vessels that had departed the West Indies on 1 May 1815, having paused at Havana, then stopped at Castletownbere on 3 July, arrived at Deal on 10 July 1815. ^{[9] [10] [11] [12]} She was paid off on 8 August 1815. ^[13]

She was hulked in 1825, and eventually sold out of the service in 1843. ^[3]

References

1. Winfield, pp. 75, 78
2. Colledge, Warlow & Bush, p. 261
3. Lavery, p. 188
4. Winfield, p. 78
5. James, p. 62
6. "The Marine List" . Lloyd's List. 25 October 1814. p. 1. Retrieved 12 December 2016– via British Newspaper Archive. The fleet which sailed from Spithead on, the 1st, and from Cork 7th ult. for the West Indies, &c. under convoy of his Majesty's ships Magnificent, Rinaldo, Chanticleer, and Brisk, was getting under weigh from Madeira on 29th [September].
7. "Shipping Intelligence" . Royal Gazette of Jamaica. 19 November 1814. p. 18. Retrieved 5 March 2020– via British Newspaper Archive. The London and Cork fleets, whose arrival [on 12 November 1814] we announced in our last [on page 17], consisted of 180 sail.. The following is a list of vessels for this island, which sailed with the Magnificent.
8. O'Byrne, p. 626
9. "The Marine List" . Lloyd's List. 26 May 1815. p. 1. Retrieved 12 December 2016– via British Newspaper Archive. The Magnificent was appointed to sail from Negril Bay, Jamaica, 1st inst. for England, with such Ships as would avail themselves of her protection.
10. "Shipping Intelligence" . Royal Gazette of Jamaica. 10 June 1815. p. 18. Retrieved 5 March 2020– via British Newspaper Archive. The Magnificent, Talbot post-sloop, of 20 guns, and Moselle and Adder left the Havanna on the 16th[, having arrived on 15 May], with 100 sail for Europe..
11. "Castletown, Beerhaven, July 3" . Belfast news-Letter. 14 July 1815. p. 4. Retrieved 22 May 2024– via British Newspaper Archive. Magnificent, of 74 guns, Capt. Lake; and Talbot sloop of war, anchored in this harbour, with part of a fleet from the West Indies, last from Negril Bay, composed of ahout 106 sail.
12. "Port news" . Saint James's Chronicle. 11 July 1815. p. 4. Retrieved 27 June 2020– via British Newspaper Archive.
13. O'Byrne, p. 625

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.
• James, William (1902). The naval history of Great Britain (1813–1827). Vol. 6 (New six volume ed.). London: Macmillan.
• 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.
• O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). "Lake, Willoughby Thomas"  . A Naval Biographical Dictionary  . John Murray – via Wikisource.
• 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.