HMS ''Trafalgar'' was ordered as 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 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 ...

, re-rated as a 106-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 ...

whose keel was laid in 1813 and which was launched on 26 July 1820 at

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

. She was designed by the Surveyors of the Navy (including William Rule), and was the only ship built to her draught. She was renamed HMS ''Camperdown'' on 22 February 1825. ''Camperdown'' was placed on harbour service as a guard ship at Portsmouth in 1854 and became a coal

hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk' ...

(acting as a floating depot) at Portsmouth in 1860 and remained there thereafter. She cannot have been the hulk referred to in the unpublished diary of Col. Archibald Butter (1857) as lying in Simons Bay, near

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa: 'The Camperdown a hulk is kept as a store ship'. She was renamed HMS ''Pitt'' on 29 July 1882 and was sold out of the Navy in May 1906 and was broken up at Charlton.Wilson, p. 15

Notes

References

* Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850. Conway Maritime Press. . * * Winfield, Rif (2005) British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793 - 1817. Seaforth Publishing. .

External links

*
3-Decks Naval history site Page on the Trafalgar
Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Ships built in Chatham Coal hulks 1820 ships {{UK-line-ship-stub