The ''Spartiate'' was originally a French 74-gun ship of the line, launched in 1797. In 1798, she took part in the Battle of the Nile, where she became one of the nine ships captured by 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 ...

. In 1805, HMS ''Spartiate'' fought 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 Francis Laforey. With , she forced the surrender of the Spanish ship , of 80 guns. Casualties were three killed (two seamen & one boy), and twenty wounded (the boatswain larke two Midshipmen ellairs & Knapman one Marine illiam Parsonsand sixteen sailors), according to the three logs (Captain's log, Ship's log, Master's log). ''Spartiate'' returned to her home port of Plymouth for repairs from December 1805 to February 1806. Thereafter she joined the Channel Fleet and, for the next two years, was involved in the blockade of Rochefort.The Captain's log does show that she returned to the United Kingdom for replenishment purposes at the following time periods: 25 July to 3 August 1806, 14 January to 26 February 1807, 29 June to 16 September 1807 In January 1808, she was in Admiral Strachan's squadron, and pursued Contre-Admiral

Zacharie Allemand Zacharie Jacques Théodore Allemand (1 May 1762, in Port-Louis – 2 March 1826, in Toulon) was a French admiral. Biography Early career Allemand was born to a captain of the East Indian Company. Orphaned at an early age, he started his sail ...

's flight from Rochefort. On 21 February 1808 she joined the Mediterranean Fleet at Palermo, and was deployed here until the end of 1809. In June 1809, she participated in the attack on the islands of

Ischia Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately east to west ...

and

Procida Procida (; nap, Proceta ) is one of the Flegrean Islands off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. The island is between Cape Miseno and the island of Ischia. With its tiny satellite island of Vivara, it is a ''comune'' of the Metropolitan Ci ...

. On board during the Trafalgar action was First-Lieutenant James Clephan, who was presented with the ship's

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

by the crew after the battle as a mark of their esteem. The flag, recently found in a drawer of one of the descendants of James Clephan, is regarded as one of very few surviving Union Flags from the

, and probably the best preserved. With battle scars still visible, it was sold for £384,000 when it went for auction in London on Trafalgar Day, 21 October 2009. In the 1820s and 30s ''Spartiate'' was assigned to the Royal Navy's South America Station. In 1824 ''Spartiate'' suffered damages in the fulfillment of these duties and the Navy sent shipwrights from England to repair her. In 1832 ''Spartiate'', under the command of Captain Robert Tait (Royal Navy officer), became the flagship of Rear Admiral

Sir Michael Seymour, 1st Baronet Sir Michael Seymour, 1st Baronet KCB (8 November 1768 – 9 July 1834) was an officer 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 fr ...

, the newly appointed commander of the South America Station. In July 1834 Sir Michael died while underway to the station but ''Spartiate'' and Tait continued to serve his successor, Vice Admiral Sir Graham Eden Hamond, 2nd Baronet until 1835 (when Hamond shifted his Flag to HMS ''Dublin'' (1812). ''Spartiate'' was converted to a sheer hulk in August 1842. She was later broken up, a process completed on 30 May 1857.

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 (2005) ''British warships in the age of sail, 1793-1817 : design, construction, careers & fates'' *Lyon, David J (2003) ''The sailing navy list: all the ships of the Royal Navy built, purchased and captured 1688-1860''

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spartiate (1798) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Ships of the line of the French Navy Téméraire-class ships of the line 1797 ships