The Battle of Camperdown, 11 October 1797 by Thomas Whitcombe, painted 1798, showing the British flagship Venerable (flying the Blue Ensign from her stern) engaged with the Dutch flagship Vrijheid. | |
History | |
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Great Britain | |
Name | HMS Venerable |
Ordered | 9 August 1781 |
Builder | Perry, Wells & Green, Blackwall Yard |
Laid down | April 1782 |
Launched | 19 April 1784 |
Fate | Wrecked 24 November 1804 |
Notes |
|
General characteristics [1] | |
Class and type | Culloden-class ship of the line |
Tons burthen | 1669 (bm) |
Length | 170 ft (51.8 m) (gundeck) |
Beam | 47 ft 2 in (14.4 m) |
Depth of hold | 19 ft 11 in (6.1 m) |
Propulsion | Sails |
Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
Armament |
HMS Venerable was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 April 1784 at Blackwall Yard. [1]
In 1795, Veneraable is known to have been under the command of Captain James Bissett. [2]
In 1797, Venerable served as Admiral Duncan's flagship at the Battle of Camperdown. [3]
In 1801, Venerable took part in the First Battle of Algeciras on 6 July and the Second Battle of Algeciras on 12–13 July. During the latter engagement, she was driven ashore on the coast of Spain in Algeciras Bay, but she was refloated, repaired, and returned to service.
Venerable was wrecked on 24 November 1804, off Roundham Head near Torbay. [3] Three of her crew were lost. [4]
Newspapers reported a dispatch dated 28 November: The Venerable had gone to pieces in a tremendous gale, the number of men drowned is said to be 13 — they are supposed to have been intoxicated when the ship struck. The commander of the Venerable was captain Hunter a brave and skilful officer and a gentleman of considerable literary and scientific acquirements who was for some time governor of New South Wales and has favoured the public with an interesting account of that colony. [5]
Two days later, on 26 November, the hired armed ship Lady Warren sailed from Plymouth to Torbay with Growler, six gun-vessels and yard-lighters, and other craft, to save the stores, guns, etc. from the wreck of Venerable. [6]
HMS Thunderer was a ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built in 1783. She carried 74-guns, being classified as a third rate. During her service she took part in several prominent naval battles of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars; including the Glorious First of June, the Battle of Cape Finisterre and the Battle of Trafalgar.
HMS Royal Oak was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Jonas Shish at Deptford and launched in 1674. She was one of only three Royal Navy ships to be equipped with the Rupertinoe naval gun. Life aboard her when cruising in the Mediterranean Sea in 1679 is described in the diary of Henry Teonge.
HMS Magnificent was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Adam Hayes launched on 20 September 1766 at Deptford Dockyard. She was one of the Ramillies-class built to update the Navy and replace ships lost following the Seven Years' War. She served through two wars before her loss during blockade duty off the French coast.
HMS Hannibal was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 April 1786, named after the Carthaginian general Hannibal. She is best known for having taken part in the Algeciras Campaign, and for having run aground during the First Battle of Algeciras on 5 July 1801, which resulted in her capture. She then served in the French Navy until she was broken up in 1824.
HMS Lichfield was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at King's Yard in Harwich by John Barnard to the dimensions laid down in the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment, and launched on 26 June 1746. She was wrecked on the Barbary Coast of North Africa on 28 November 1758.
HMS Alexander was a 74-gun third-rate of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Deptford Dockyard on 8 October 1778. During her career she was captured by the French, and later recaptured by the British. She fought at the Nile in 1798, and was broken up in 1819. She was named after Alexander the Great.
Tyrannicide was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.
HMS Kent was a 74-gun Bellona-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, designed by Sir Thomas Slade and built by Adam Hayes at Deptford Dockyard and launched on 23 March 1762.
HMS Illustrious was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 7 July 1789 at Bucklers Hard under the direction of Henry Adams. She participated in the Battle of Genoa after which she was wrecked.
HMS Blenheim was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Israel Pownoll and launched on 5 July 1761 at Woolwich. In 1797 she participated in the Battle of Cape St Vincent. In 1801 Blenheim was razeed to a third rate. She disappeared off Madagascar with all hands in February 1807.
The Culloden-class ships of the line were a class of eight 74-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade. The Cullodens were the last class of 74s which Slade designed before his death in 1771.
HMS Warrior was a 74-gun Alfred-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 18 October 1781 at Portsmouth.
HMS Tremendous was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, designed by Edward Hunt, built to the lines of HMS Ganges by William Barnard's yard at Deptford Green, and launched on 30 October 1784.
HMS Hero was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, launched on 18 August 1803 at Blackwall Yard.
Bienfaisant was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1754.
HMS St Michael was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by John Tippetts of Portsmouth Dockyard and launched in 1669.
HMS Neptune was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built under the 1677 "Thirty Great Ships" Programme and launched in 1683 at Deptford Dockyard.
HMS Namur was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1697.
HMS Harwich was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at King's Yard in Harwich by John Barnard to the dimensions laid down in the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment at Harwich, and launched on 22 December 1743.
HMS Calpe was the former 14-gun polacca San José of the Spanish Navy, originally built in 1796 in Greece. The British captured her in 1800 and commissioned her as a sloop-of-war. She served at the Battle of Algeciras Bay before the Navy sold her in 1802. She underwent repairs and reappeared as a merchantman in the 1805 registers; however, she wrecked at the Dardanelles in 1805.