HMS ''Boyne'' was a 98-gun

second rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer guns ...

ship of the line of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, built by

Nicholas Diddams Nicholas Diddams (c.1760–1823) was a Master Shipwright mainly building for the Royal Navy. Life He was born around 1760 the son of Nicholas Diddams (b.1731) and grandson of John Diddams (1687-1766) and his wife Mary Rolfe (1702-1777). He a ...

Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...

and launched on 3 July 1810 at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. On 12 February 1814 she took part with HMS ''Caledonia'' in a hot action against the French line-of-battle ship ''Romulus'' off

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

; the French 74 managed to escape to Toulon by sailing close to the coast to avoid being surrounded. With the 1817 changes to the rating system ''Boyne'' was rerated as a 104-gun

first rate In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying at ...

ship. On 23 November 1824, ''Boyne'' was driven ashore at

during a

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).razee A razee or razée is a sailing ship that has been cut down (''razeed'') to reduce the number of decks. The word is derived from the French ''vaisseau rasé'', meaning a razed (in the sense of shaved down) ship. Seventeenth century During the ...

d) to become a two-deck, 76-gun

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

ship of the line. On 1 December 1834 she was renamed HMS '' Excellent'' and became a training ship. On 22 November 1859 she was renamed HMS ''Queen Charlotte'' and paid off the following month before being broken up from December 1861. Boyne 98 Guns Portsmouth RMG PU6077

Notes

References

* Lambert, Andrew (2012). ''The Challenge: Britain Against America in the Naval War of 1812''. London: Faber and Faber. * Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . * Winfield, Rif (2008): ''British Warships in the Age of Sail: 1793 - 1817.'' Seaforth Publishing. .

External links

* Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Boyne-class ships of the line (1810) Ships built in Portsmouth 1810 ships War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in November 1824 {{UK-line-ship-stub