Leviathan (1790)
History
Great Britain
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 burthen1,70789⁄94 (bm)
Length172 ft 3 in (52.50 m) (gundeck)
Beam47 ft 9 in (14.55 m)
Depth of hold20 ft 9+1⁄2 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 British Royal Navy, launched on 9 October 1790.[1]

Leviathan on the stocks, finished, at the Royal Dockyard Chatham, 1789

Service history

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 Agustín. 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 1797 of the Tordenskiold.[4]

In 1809, she took part in the Battle of Maguelone.[5]

Attack on convoy of eighteen French merchant ships at Laigrelia, 1812

On 27 June 1812, Leviathan, Imperieuse, Curacoa and Eclair attacked an 18-strong French convoy at Laigueglia and Alassio in Liguria, northern Italy.

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. ^ "Battle of Trafalgar union jack goes up for auction". BBC News. 8 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Trafalgar Union Jack expected to fetch £50,000".
  4. ^ "No. 15704". The London Gazette. 22 May 1804. p. 652.
  5. ^ Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France (in French). Vol. 4. Challamel ainé. pp. 56–58.

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.

External links


Courageux-class ships of the line
Categories