HMS ''Leviathan'' was a 74-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 A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

of the British

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 F ...

, launched on 9 October 1790. The Royal Dockyard at Chatham, 1789

Service history

At the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

under

Henry William Bayntun Admiral Sir Henry William Bayntun GCB (1766 – 16 December 1840) was a senior officer in the Royal Navy, whose distinguished career in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars was a catalogue of the highest and lowest points of the Navy duri ...

, she was near the front of the windward column led by

Admiral Lord Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...

aboard his flagship, , and captured the Spanish ship . 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 William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

), who then gave it to Arthur Cory's direct ancestor Nicholas Cory, a senior officer on William's royal yacht , in thanks for helping the yacht win a race and a bet. ''Leviathan'', , , , and shared in the proceeds of the capture on 10 September 1797 of the ''Tordenskiold''. In 1809, she took part in the

Battle of Maguelone The Battle of Maguelone was a minor naval action that occurred in late October 1809, during the Peninsular War, between the escort of a French convoy, comprising three ships of the line and two frigates, and a six-ship squadron of the Royal N ...

Attack on convoy of eighteen French merchant ships at Laigrelia

On 27 June 1812, ''Leviathan'', , and attacked an 18-strong French convoy at

Laigueglia Laigueglia (; lij, L'Aigheuja, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Savona, in Liguria (northern Italy in 1812), nearby the Capo Mele Lighthouse. International relations Twin towns – Sister cities Laigueglia is twinned with: * Hö ...

and

Alassio Alassio ( lij, Arasce) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Savona situated in the western coast of Liguria, Northern Italy, approximately from the French border. Alassio is known for its natural and scenic views. The town centre is cro ...

in Liguria, northern Italy.

Fate

In 1816, after the end of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, she was converted into a

prison ship A prison ship, often more accurately described as a prison hulk, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoners of war or civilian internees. While many nation ...

and in 1848 was sold and broken up.

Notes

References

*Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. .

External links

* Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Courageux-class ships of the line Ships built in Chatham 1790 ships {{UK-line-ship-stub