HMS Nelson (1814)
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HMS ''Nelson'' was a 126-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 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 ...
, launched on 4 July 1814 at
Woolwich Dockyard Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich in north-west Kent, where many ships were built from the early 16th century until th ...
, but then laid up incomplete at Portsmouth until 1854, when work began with a view to commissioning her for service in the
Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
, but this ended before much work had been done, and the ship returned to reserve.Irene Schaffer's HMS Nelson Webpage
/ref> She was converted into a screw ship in 1860, being cut down to a two-decker and fitted with an engine of for a speed of . In 1865, ''Nelson'' was given to the colony of
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
as a training ship, and she was finally outfitted and rigged for £42,000 and sailed for Australia in October 1867. Travelling via the Cape of Good Hope, she arrived in February 1868. She was the first ship to dock in the newly constructed Alfred Graving Dock. Her armament in 1874 was listed as two 7-in RML, twenty 64 lb guns, twenty 32 lb guns and six 12 lb howitzers. During 1879–1882, ''Nelson'' was further cut down to a single deck and her rig reduced to the main mast only, the ship being reclassified as a frigate. Her old armament was partly replaced by modern breech-loaders. She was laid up at Willamstown in 1891, her boilers being removed in 1893. On 28 April 1898 she was put up for auction and sold to Bernard Einerson of Sydney for £2,400. In 1900 ''Nelson'' was cut down yet again to create a coal lighter that kept the name ''Nelson'', the upper timbers being used to build a drogher named ''Oceanic''. In 1908 ''Nelson'' was sold to the Union Steamship Co. of New Zealand, and in July was towed from Sydney to Beauty Point on the Tamar River, Tasmania, for use as a coal storage hulk. She later foundered there with 1,400 tons of coal on board and remained submerged for forty days until finally refloated. In January 1915 she was towed to Hobart for further service as a coal hulk, until sold in August 1920 to Mr. H Gray for £500 and towed an up river to Shag Bay. for gradual breaking up, work continuing into the 1930s, although some of her timbers still survive. The ship's figurehead was preserved by the NSW Naval Brigade, then the
Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...
, before it was presented to the
Australian National Maritime Museum The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) is a federally operated maritime museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney. After considering the idea of establishing a maritime museum, the federal government announced that a national maritime museum wou ...
for display. Several
RML 64-pounder 58 cwt The RML 64-pounder 58 cwt guns (converted) were British rifled muzzle-loading guns converted from obsolete smoothbore 32-pounder 58 cwt guns."58 cwt" refers to the gun's weight rounded up to differentiate it from other "64-pounder" guns : 1 cwt = ...
guns (Rifled Muzzle Loader, converted 32-pounder smoothbores) from ''Nelson'' can be found scattered around the State of Victoria, Australia in public areas, as well as two on military premises at
Victoria Barracks, Melbourne Located on St Kilda Road in Melbourne, Australia, Victoria Barracks Melbourne is architecturally and historically significant. It is one of the most impressive 19th century government buildings in Victoria, Australia. Pre-World War II Original ...
, and one at
Fort Queenscliff Fort Queenscliff, in Victoria, Australia, dates from 1860 when an open battery was constructed on Shortland's Bluff to defend the entrance to Port Phillip. The Fort, which underwent major redevelopment in the late 1870s and 1880s, became the he ...
.


Notes


References

*Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . *Jones, Colin (1986) ''Australian Colonial Navies'' Australian War Memorial,


External links

*
HMVS Nelson SlideShow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson (1814) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Nelson-class ships of the line Coal hulks 1814 ships Maritime incidents in 1908