HMS ''Queen Charlotte'' was 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 ...

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

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 17 July 1810 at

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. She replaced the first sunk in 1800.

Career

A Black sailor from Grenada named William Brown was discharged from ''Queen Charlotte'' in 1815 for being a woman. She was Lord Exmouth's

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

during the Bombardment of Algiers in 1816. On 17 September 1817, ''Linnet'', a tender to ''Queen Charlotte'', seized a smuggled cargo of tobacco. The officers and crew of ''Queen Charlotte'' shared in the prize money. On 17 December 1823, ''Queen Charlotte'' was driven into the British ship ''Brothers'' 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 ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

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. ''Brothers'' suffered severe damage in the collision.

Fate

''Queen Charlotte'' was converted to serve as a

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...

in 1859 and renamed HMS ''Excellent''. She was eventually sold out of the service to be broken up in 1892.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes Citations References * 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 1810 ships Ships of the West Africa Squadron Maritime incidents in December 1823 {{UK-line-ship-stub