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HMS Leviathan (1790)

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History
Royal Navy EnsignUK
NameHMS Leviathan
Ordered9 December 1779
BuilderChatham Dockyard
Laid downMay 1782
Launched9 October 1790
Honours and
awards
FateSold and broken up, 1848
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeCourageux class ship of the line
Tons burthen17078994 (bm)
Length172 ft 3 in (52.50 m) (gundeck)
Beam47 ft 9 in (14.55 m)
Depth of hold20 ft 9+12 in (6.3 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull rigged ship
Armament
  • 74 guns:
  • Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs

HMS Leviathan was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 9 October 1790.[1] At the Battle of Trafalgar under Henry William Bayntun, she was near the front of the windward column led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard his flagship, HMS Victory, and captured the Spanish ship San Augustin. A flag said to have been flown by the Leviathan at Trafalgar is to be sold at auction by Arthur Cory in March 2016 - Bayntun is thought to have given it to his friend the Duke of Clarence (later William IV), who then gave it to Arthur Cory's direct ancestor Nicholas Cory, a senior officer on William's royal yacht HMS Royal Sovereign, in thanks for helping the yacht win a race and a bet.[2][3]

Leviathan, Pompee, Anson, Melpomene, and Childers shared in the proceeds of the capture on 10 September of the Tordenshiold.[4]

Fate

In 1816, after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, she was converted into a prison ship and in 1848 was sold and broken up.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p180.
  2. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-35038494
  3. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12037764/Trafalgar-Union-Jack-expected-to-fetch-50000.html
  4. ^ "No. 15704". The London Gazette. 22 May 1804.

References

  • 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.