HMS Impregnable (1786)

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

History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Impregnable
Ordered	13 September 1780
Builder	Deptford Dockyard
Laid down	October 1781
Launched	15 April 1786
Honours and awards	Participated in: Glorious First of June
Fate	Wrecked, 1799
General characteristics
Class and type	London-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1871 tons (1901 tonnes)
Length	177 ft 6 in (54.10 m) (gundeck)
Beam	49 ft (15 m)
Depth of hold	21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full rigged ship
Armament	98 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Middle gundeck: 30 × 18 pdrs Upper gundeck: 30 × 12 pdrs Quarterdeck: 8 × 12 pdrs Forecastle: 2 × 12 pdrs

HMS Impregnable was a Royal Navy 98-gun second rate. This ship of the line was launched on 15 April 1786 at Deptford Dockyard. She was wrecked in 1799 off Spithead.

Service

In 1794, Impregnable served as Rear-Admiral Benjamin Caldwell's flagship at the Glorious First of June.

Fate

She was lost off Chichester on 18 October 1799. She had escorted a convoy of 12 merchantmen from Lisbon to the Isle of Wight and her master, Michael Jenkins, was anxious to get into Spithead that night. The result was that she ended up on the Chichester Shoals. She anchored overnight and cut away her masts. At dawn her crew discovered that she had beaten a mile and a half over the shoals and lay near the entrance to Langstone Harbour. The following day she was found to have bilged. After she was stripped of her guns and anything else that could be retrieved, the Admiralty sold Impregnable's remains to a Portsmouth merchant, A. Lindenegren. The court martial on 30 October dismissed Master Jenkins from the service.

References

• Gossett, William Patrick (1986). The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900. Mansell. ISBN 0-7201-1816-6.
• Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.