HMS Neptune (1797)

Last updated

Neptune Trafalgar-Sartorius.jpg
Neptune engaged, Trafalgar, 1805, by John Francis Sartorius. HMS Neptune, seen in bow profile, exchanges broadsides with the Spanish Santísima Trinidad
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg Great Britain
NameHMS Neptune
Ordered15 February 1790
Builder Deptford Dockyard
Laid downApril 1791
Launched28 January 1797
FateBroken up in October 1818
General characteristics [1]
Class and type Neptune-class ship of the line
Tons burthen2,110 5394 (bm)
Length185 ft (56 m) (gundeck)
Beam51 ft (16 m)
Depth of hold21 ft (6.4 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Complement750
Armament
  • Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
  • Middle gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder guns
  • Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 8 × 12-pounder guns
  • Fc: 2 × 12-pounder guns

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.

Contents

Neptune was built during the early years of the war with Revolutionary France and was launched in 1797. She almost immediately became caught up in the events of the mutiny at the Nore, and was one of a few loyal ships tasked with attacking mutinous vessels if they could not be brought to order. The mutiny died out before this became necessary and Neptune joined the Channel Fleet. She moved to the Mediterranean in 1799, spending the rest of the French Revolutionary Wars in operations with Vice-Admiral Lord Keith's fleet. After refitting, and spending time on blockades, she formed part of Lord Nelson's fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar, and was heavily involved in the fighting, sustaining casualties of 10 killed and 34 wounded.

She was not fully repaired and returned to service until 1807, when she went out to the Caribbean. In 1809 she participated in the successful invasion of Martinique, and the subsequent battle with Troude's squadron. Returning to Britain towards the end of the wars, she was laid up in ordinary, and in 1813 became a temporary prison ship. She was finally broken up in 1818.

Construction and commissioning

Neptune was ordered from Deptford Dockyard on 15 February 1790, to a design developed by Surveyor of the Navy Sir John Henslow. [2] [3] She was one of three ships of the Neptune class, alongside her sisters HMS Temeraire and HMS Dreadnought. [1] [2] Neptune was laid down at Deptford in April 1791, receiving her name on 24 July 1790. The initial stages of her construction were overseen by Master Shipwright Martin Ware, though he was succeeded by Thomas Pollard in June 1795, and Pollard oversaw her completion. [2] Neptune was launched on 28 January 1797 and sailed to Woolwich to be fitted for sea. [1] [2] Arriving at Woolwich on 12 February, she was immediately docked to have her copper sheathing fitted, a process that was completed by 1 March. [3] Launched again, she finished fitting out, and received her masts and yards. Her final costs came to £77,053, and included £61,172 spent on the hull, masts and yards, and a further £15,881 on rigging and stores. [2] [3]

She was commissioned on 25 March 1797 under Captain Henry Edwyn Stanhope, becoming the third ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Neptune. [4] Her predecessors had been two 90-gun ships, the first launched in 1683, renamed HMS Torbay in 1750 and sold in 1784. The second had been launched in 1757, was used as a sheer hulk from 1784, and was broken up in 1816. [4] Stanhope sailed from Woolwich on 11 June 1797, flying the broad pendant of Commodore Sir Erasmus Gower, and made for the Nore. [3]

Mutiny at the Nore

Shortly after her arrival at the Nore, Neptune became caught up in the mutiny that had broken out there. [3] While lying at Gravesend, Neptune and the 64-gun ships HMS Agincourt and HMS Lancaster, together with a fleet of gunboats, were ordered to intercept and attack the mutinous ships at the Nore. [3] Before they could proceed word came that the mutineers had entered negotiations with the Earl of Northesk, captain of the 64-gun HMS Monmouth, and by 9 June the mutiny was on the verge of collapse. [3] The attack was called off, and on 21 September Stanhope was superseded by Gower as captain of Neptune. The crisis over, Neptune joined the Channel Fleet. [2] [3] A further small-scale mutiny would take place in 1798, with some of her crew court-martialed. [5]

Mediterranean

Gower remained in command of Neptune until his promotion to rear-admiral of the white, at which point Herbert Sawyer became her acting-captain. [3] Sawyer was in command until 22 January 1799, and Gower left her on 28 February 1799. [3] Command of the ship formally passed to Captain James Vashon on 5 March 1799. [2] [3] The first half of 1799 was spent with the Channel Fleet, and in June Neptune was one of 15 ships of the line assigned to join Vice-Admiral Lord Keith's fleet in the Mediterranean. [3] The squadron, commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Cotton, rendezvoused with Keith's force at Menorca on 7 July, bringing the British fleet in the Mediterranean up to 31 ships. [3] Keith intended to intercept a large Franco-Spanish force of 42 ships under Admirals Étienne Eustache Bruix and Jose Mazarredo, and set out to sea on 10 July. Bruix' expedition evaded Keith, and reached the safety of Brest on 9 August. [3] Neptune went on to spend the rest of the French Revolutionary Wars in the Mediterranean. [3]

Vashon was superseded on 26 March 1801, and the following day Captain Edward Brace arrived to take command. [2] [3] Neptune became the flagship of Vice-Admiral James Gambier during this period. [2] Brace's period of command was brief, he was superseded by Captain Francis Austen on 12 September. With the draw down in hostilities prior to the signing of the Treaty of Amiens in March 1802, Neptune was one of the many ships of the Mediterranean fleet to be ordered home, arriving at Portsmouth on 24 February. [3] Austen paid her off on 29 April, but recommissioned her the next day. Neptune then underwent a brief refit, during which £5,728 was expended, £2,895 of which was spent on her hull, masts and yards. [3] Austen was superseded on 30 September 1802 and the following day Captain William O'Bryen Drury took command. [2] [3] With Neptune fully refitted and stored, she sailed from the dockyard and joined the Channel Fleet at Spithead on 29 October. [3]

Blockade, and approach to Trafalgar

Drury commanded Neptune for the next two years, until his promotion to rear-admiral in 1804. He departed the ship on 13 May 1804, and the following day Captain Sir Thomas Williams took over. [2] [3] Neptune spent the rest of 1804 deployed with the Channel Fleet, blockading the French Atlantic ports. [3] During this time Captain Williams' health progressively worsened, and he was invalided back to Britain on 7 May 1805. He was replaced by Captain Thomas Fremantle on 8 May, and was sent to join Robert Calder's force blockading Ferrol, after the Franco-Spanish fleet had arrived there after the Battle of Cape Finisterre. [6] Calder decided that his eight ships were not sufficient to resist Villeneuve's fleet were it to come out of harbour, and instead went north to join Admiral William Cornwallis's fleet off Brest. Shortly afterwards Nelson's fleet returned from the West Indies, bringing 12 more ships, and Calder was given 18 ships, including Neptune, and sent back to Ferrol to search for Villeneuve. [6] By now Villeneuve had put into Cadiz and Calder's force was ordered to join the hastily assembled British fleet under Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, that was blockading the Franco-Spanish fleet at Cadiz. [3] As the British fleet settled in for a long blockade Fremantle commented on Neptune's sailing qualities. She had the reputation of being slow, and Fremantle complained that he did not like being in 'a large ship that don't sail and must continually be late in action.' [7] [8] During the battle however, Midshipman William Baddock commented that 'The old Neptune, which never was a good sailer, took it into her head that morning to sail better than I ever remember to have seen her do before.' [8] Neptune went into the battle 18 men short of her complement. [8]

Trafalgar

Neptune formed part of the weather column in the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October, and was the third ship from the lead, situated between her sister HMS Temeraire, and the 74-gun HMS Leviathan. [8] Fremantle had been promised a position second to Nelson aboard HMS Victory, and by 10 o'clock was sailing fast enough to threaten to overtake her. Fremantle hoped to pass her, and lead the line into battle, but Nelson ordered 'Neptune, take in your studding-sails and drop astern. I shall break the line myself.' [9] Neptune went into action with her band playing, and everyone except the officers and the band lying down on the deck to protect them from enemy fire. [10] Ahead of her Fremantle saw Eliab Harvey's Temeraire turn to pass astern of the French Redoutable, but resolved to follow Nelson and HMS Victory to pass astern of the French flagship Bucentaure. [10] As she passed under Bucentaure's stern, Neptune discharged a double-shotted broadside from her larboard (port) guns, with devastating consequences on Villeneuve's already disabled flagship. [11] Fremantle then had the helm swung hard to starboard, bringing his ship abeam of the Bucentaure. He fired two more triple-shotted broadsides from nearly 50 guns at a range of less than 100 yards into the beleaguered French ship. [10]

The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805: beginning of the action by Thomas Buttersworth (oil on canvas). The ship in the right foreground is the Bucentaure in starboard-bow view, with her mizzen mast and main topgallant mast shot away. In port-bow view and passing astern of her is Neptune, delivering raking fire. On the left of the picture, the port-stern of HMS Victory is visible, passing astern of Santisima Trinidad and raking her. On Victory's starboard side is the French Redoutable. The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, beginning of the action.jpg
The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805: beginning of the action by Thomas Buttersworth (oil on canvas). The ship in the right foreground is the Bucentaure in starboard-bow view, with her mizzen mast and main topgallant mast shot away. In port-bow view and passing astern of her is Neptune, delivering raking fire. On the left of the picture, the port-stern of HMS Victory is visible, passing astern of Santísima Trinidad and raking her. On Victory's starboard side is the French Redoutable.

Fremantle then spotted the towering mass of the Spanish four-decker Santísima Trinidad sailing away from him, and steered towards her starboard quarter in the hope of raking her stern. [10] Opening fire with his larboard battery, he positioned Neptune off the Spanish vessel's starboard beam and the two exchanged heavy fire for the next hour as more British ships poured through the gap astern of Neptune. [10] Neptune took fire from other ships of the combined fleet as they sailed past. [11] Santísima Trinidad, heavily battered by Neptune's guns, as well as those from the 74-gun ships HMS Leviathan and HMS Conqueror, became completely dismasted and covered in debris. [12] She fought on until 5.30 pm, when she struck her colours, having sustained casualties of 205 dead and 103 wounded. [12] Neptune left the 98-gun HMS Prince to take possession and headed north to cut off the remains of the enemy fleet, briefly becoming engaged with the French 74-gun Intrépide. [8] During the battle Neptune suffered considerable damage to her masts, although they did not fall. Most of her rigging was cut to pieces and she sustained nine shot holes in her hull. She sustained casualties of ten killed and 34 wounded. A remarkably small proportion of her officers became casualties, with only the captain's clerk, Richard Hurrell, being wounded. [8] [11]

H.M.S 'Victory' towed into Gibraltar, watercolour study by Clarkson Stanfield. HMS Victory, seen in full starboard view, is towed into Gibraltar by HMS Neptune, seven days after the Battle of Trafalgar. HMS Victory towed into Gibraltar.jpg
H.M.S 'Victory' towed into Gibraltar, watercolour study by Clarkson Stanfield. HMS Victory, seen in full starboard view, is towed into Gibraltar by HMS Neptune, seven days after the Battle of Trafalgar.

After the battle Collingwood transferred his flag from the damaged HMS Royal Sovereign to the frigate HMS Euryalus, and on 22 October Neptune took the Royal Sovereign in tow. [8] [11] On 23 October, as the Franco-Spanish forces that had escaped into Cadiz sortied under Commodore Julien Cosmao, Neptune cast off the tow, surrendering the duty to HMS Mars, and took on board Villeneuve and several captured flag captains, who had originally been aboard Mars. [11] As the weather continued to deteriorate Neptune sent her boats to assist in the evacuation of the Santísima Trinidad before she foundered. After riding out the storm she took the battered Victory, carrying Lord Nelson's body, in tow on 26 October and brought her into Gibraltar on 28 October. [11]

West Indies

After undergoing some repairs at Gibraltar Neptune sailed to Britain, arriving at Portsmouth on 6 December 1805, where she was paid off. [11] She was moved to Spithead in 1806, but was back in Portsmouth on 23 November, and was moved into a dock on 24 March 1807 to undergo a refit. [2] [11] The refit lasted until November 1807 and involved having her copper sheathing removed and her hull refitted. She was then recoppered, having had a sum of £29,053 expended on her. [2] [11] She was recommissioned on 18 August 1807 under her old commander, Captain Sir Thomas Williams, and was relaunched three days later on 21 August to complete her refit. [2] [11] She was initially assigned to serve in the English Channel, but was moved to the West Indies in 1808. On 9 November Williams was superseded by Captain Thomas Pinto, who only spent six weeks in command before being succeeded by Captain Charles Dilkes on 20 December. [2] [11]

In January 1809 an attack on the French colony of Martinique, governed by Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse, was planned. Neptune became the flagship of the expedition's commander, Rear-Admiral Alexander Cochrane, and the invasion force, consisting of 44 vessels and transports for 10,000 troops under Lieutenant-General George Beckwith, sailed on 28 January. [11] The force arrived at Martinique on 30 January, and 3,000 troops were landed under Major-General Frederick Maitland without resistance. [11] 600 troops were put ashore at Cape Solomon under Major Henderson, both landings supervised by Captain William Charles Fahie aboard the 74-gun HMS Belleisle. [11] An additional force of 6,500 men were landed in the north of the island under Major-General Sir George Prévost, and the French were driven into several fortified positions, the last of which surrendered on 24 February 1809. [13]

Battle with Troude

Engraving entitled Intrepid behaviour of Captain Charles Napier, in HM 18 gun Brig Recruit for which he was appointed to the D' Haupoult. The 74 now pouring a broadside into her. 15 April 1809, by G. W. Terry. Recruit & D'Haupoult.jpg
Engraving entitled Intrepid behaviour of Captain Charles Napier, in HM 18 gun Brig Recruit for which he was appointed to the D' Haupoult. The 74 now pouring a broadside into her. 15 April 1809, by G. W. Terry.

Cochrane's squadron remained in the area blockading the island, and in March a French squadron consisting of three 74-gun ships, D'Hautpoul, Courageux and Polonais, and two frigates, Félicité and Furieuse, under the overall command of Commodore Amable Troude, arrived in the Caribbean. Finding Martinique in British hands, Troude anchored near Îles des Saintes. [13]

There they were blockaded until 14 April, when Cochrane removed this threat. A British force under Major-General Frederick Maitland and Captain Philip Beaver in Acasta, landed troops on the islands capturing them. [14] The British then installed heavy guns on vantage points.

Threatened, Troude put to sea, chased by Cochrane's squadron. After a running battle over several days the D'Hautpoul was brought to action and captured. Neptune's captain, Charles Dilkes, was given command of her, while Captain James Athol Wood succeeded him in command of Neptune on 2 August. [2] [13]

Neptune was among the naval vessels that shared in the proceeds of the capture of the islands. [Note 1]

Final years

Dilkes resumed command of Neptune on 2 March 1810, while Wood was exchanged into HMS Pompee. Dilkes had apparently been suffering poor health, and Captain N Ballard took command in an acting capacity on 22 July. [13] Neptune returned to Plymouth on 26 October and entered the dock on 9 November to be fitted for the ordinary. [13] The process cost £713, and after undocking on 8 December she was laid up in the Hamoaze until late autumn 1813. [1] [13] Her hull appears to have quickly deteriorated, and after a survey she was deemed unfit for further service at sea. [13] The Navy Board proposed that she be converted into a prison ship, a recommendation the Admiralty accepted, and she was taken in hand for fitting out on 22 November. On the completion of the work in December she was commissioned under Lieutenant George Lawrence. [2] [13] Neptune spent three years in this role, and was finally taken to pieces in October 1818. [16]

Notes

  1. The prize agent for a number of the vessels involved, Henry Abbott, went bankrupt. In May 1835 there was a final payment of a dividend from his estate. A first-class share was worth 10s 2+34d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 1d. Seventh-class (landsmen) and eighth-class (boys) shares were fractions of a penny, too small to pay. [15]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p183.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Winfield. British Warships of the Age of Sail 1793-1817. p. 26.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Goodwin. The Ships of Trafalgar. p. 39.
  4. 1 2 Goodwin. The Ships of Trafalgar. p. 38.
  5. MacDougall, Phillip (2022). "The Naval Mutinies of 1798". The Mariner's Mirror. Society for Nautical Research. 108 (4): 423–438.
  6. 1 2 Clayton & Craig. Trafalgar: The Men, the Battle, the Storm. p. 12.
  7. Clayton & Craig. Trafalgar: The Men, the Battle, the Storm. p. 66.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Adkin. The Trafalgar Companion. p. 311.
  9. Clayton & Craig. Trafalgar: The Men, the Battle, the Storm. p. 136.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Adkin. The Trafalgar Companion. p. 508.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Goodwin. The Ships of Trafalgar. p. 40.
  12. 1 2 Goodwin. The Ships of Trafalgar. p. 212.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Goodwin. The Ships of Trafalgar. p. 41.
  14. "No. 16262". The London Gazette . 30 May 1809. pp. 779–782.
  15. "No. 19255". The London Gazette . 3 April 1835. p. 643.
  16. Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy. p. 241.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Trafalgar</span> 1805 British naval victory in the Napoleonic Wars

The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815).

HMS <i>Bellerophon</i> (1786) 74-gun Royal Navy ship of the line

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 <i>Agamemnon</i> (1781) 1781 ship

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 of the major naval battles of those conflicts. She is remembered as being Nelson's favourite ship, and was named after the mythical ancient Greek king Agamemnon, being the first ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.

HMS <i>Superb</i> (1798) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Superb was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, and the fourth vessel to bear the name. She was launched on 19 March 1798 from Northfleet, and was eventually broken up in 1826. Superb is mostly associated with Richard Goodwin Keats who commanded her as captain from 1801 until his promotion in 1806. Keats famously spent only one night out of the ship during four and a half years out of a home port. She also served as his flagship from early 1808 until she was paid off in 1809.

HMS <i>Temeraire</i> (1798) British Royal Navy ship of the line

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk</span> Royal Navy admiral and hereditary peer, third-in-command at the Battle of Trafalgar

Admiral William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk was a British naval officer who served during the American Revolutionary War, French Revolutionary War, and Napoleonic Wars. While in command of HMS Monmouth he was caught in the Nore Mutiny of 1797 and was the officer selected to relay the demands of the mutineers to George III. He most notably served as third-in-command of the Mediterranean Fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in HMS Britannia. He later became Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom and Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.

French ship <i>Redoutable</i> (1795) Ship of the line of the French Navy

The Redoutable was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She took part in the battles of the French Revolutionary Wars in the Brest squadron, served in the Caribbean in 1803, and duelled with HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar, killing Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson during the action. She sank in the storm that followed the battle.

French ship <i>Formidable</i> (1795) Ship of the line of the French Navy

Formidable was an 80-gun Tonnant-class ship of the line of the French Navy, laid down in August 1794 and given the name Formidable, on 5 October, but renamed Figuieres on 4 December 1794, although the name was restored to Formidable on 31 May 1795 after she was launched at Toulon on 17 March 1795. She participated in the Battle of Algeciras, the Battle of Cape Finisterre and several other actions before the British captured her at the Battle of Cape Ortegal on 4 November 1805. The British took her into service as HMS Brave. She was sold to be broken up in April 1816.

French ship <i>Scipion</i> (1801) Ship of the line of the French Navy

Scipion was a 74-gun French ship of the line, built at Lorient to a design by Jacques Noel Sane. She was laid down as Orient in late 1798, and renamed Scipion in 1801. She was first commissioned in 1802 and joined the French Mediterranean fleet based at Toulon, in the squadron of Admiral Leissègues. Consequently, she was one of the ships afloat in that port when war with England reopened in May 1803. She participated in the Battle of Cape Finisterre and the Battle of Trafalgar. The British captured her in the subsequent Battle of Cape Ortegal. In 1810 she participated in the Java campaign, which in 1847 earned her surviving crew the Naval General Service Medal. She participated in the blockade of Toulon in 1813 and was paid off in 1814. She was broken up in 1819.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Blackwood</span> Royal Navy officer

Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood, 1st Baronet, whose memorial is in Killyleagh Parish Church, was an Irish officer of the British Royal Navy.

French ship <i>Neptune</i> (1803) 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy launched in 1803

Neptune was a Bucentaure-class 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. Built during the last years of the French Revolutionary Wars she was launched at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars. Her brief career with the French included several major battles, though she spent the last 12 years of her life under the Spanish flag.

French ship <i>Indomptable</i> (1790) Ship of the line of the French Navy

Indomptable ("Indomitable") was a Tonnant-class 80-gun ship of the line in the French Navy, laid down in 1788 and in active service from 1791. Engaged against the Royal Navy after 1794, she was damaged in the Battle of Trafalgar and wrecked near the Spanish city of Cadiz on 25/26 October 1805.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israel Pellew</span> Royal Navy admiral

Admiral Sir Israel Pellew, KCB, was an English naval officer who spent his career under the shadow of his more successful older brother Edward Pellew.

HMS <i>Berwick</i> (1775) Elizabeth-class ship of the line

HMS Berwick was a 74-gun Elizabeth-class third rate of the Royal Navy, launched at Portsmouth Dockyard on 18 April 1775, to a design by Sir Thomas Slade. She fought the French at the Battle of Ushant (1778) and the Dutch at the Battle of Dogger Bank (1781). The French captured her in the action of 8 March 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars and she served with them with some success then and at the start of the Napoleonic Wars until the British recaptured her at the Battle of Trafalgar. Berwick sank shortly thereafter in a storm.

HMS <i>Swiftsure</i> (1787) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

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.

HMS <i>Edgar</i> (1779) 74-gun Royal Navy ship of the line

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.

French brig <i>Furet</i> (1801)

Furet, launched in 1801, was an Abeille-class brig of the French Navy. HMS Hydra captured her on 27 February 1806, off Cadiz.

HMS <i>Adamant</i> (1780) British Portland-class fourth rate warship

HMS Adamant was a 50-gun Portland-class fourth rate warship of the British Royal Navy. She served during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars in a career that spanned thirty years.

Spanish ship <i>Neptuno</i> (1795)

Neptuno was an 80-gun Neptuno-class ship of the line of the Spanish Navy. She was built in 1795 and took part in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. She fought with the Franco-Spanish fleet in the battle of Trafalgar, and was wrecked in its aftermath.

William Lechmere was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

References