The ''Nelson''-class

ships 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 colum ...

were a class of three 120-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 The Jacobean era was the period in English and Scot ...

s, designed for 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 ...

as a joint effort between the two Surveyors of the Navy at the time,

Robert Seppings Sir Robert Seppings, FRS (11 December 176725 April 1840) was an English naval architect. His experiments with diagonal trusses in the construction of ships led to his appointment as Surveyor of the Navy in 1813, a position he held until 1835. Bi ...

and Joseph Tucker.

Ships

* :Builder:

Woolwich Dockyard Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich in north-west Kent, where many ships were built from the early 1 ...

:Ordered: 23 November 1805 :Laid down: December 1809 :Launched: 4 July 1814 :Completed: 17 August 1814 :Fate: Broken up, 1928 * :Builder:

Plymouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roy ...

:Ordered: 15 January 1806 :Laid down: May 1810 :Launched: 11 March 1815 :Completed 1829 :Fate: Sold, 1906 * :Builder:

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...

:Ordered: 15 January 1806 :Laid down: June 1808 :Launched: 28 March 1815 :Completed: 1835 :Fate: Sold, 1854

References

*Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . *Lyon, David and Winfield, Rif (2004) ''The Sail and Steam Navy List, 1815-1889.'' Chatham Publishing. . *Winfield, Rif (2008) ''British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793-1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.'' 2nd edition, Seaforth Publishing. . Ship of the line classes {{UK-line-ship-stub