The ''Monarca'' was a 74-gun

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

ship of the line of the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...

. She was ordered by a royal order of 28 September 1791, built in the

Reales Astilleros de Esteiro The Real Astillero de Esteiro (''in English: Esteiro Royal Dockyards'') was a royal shipyard in Ferrol in Spain. Orders for its construction were issued by Ferdinand VI of Spain on 9 April 1749, following the decision by the naval minister Zenón ...

shipyard and launched on 17 March 1794. Designed by José Romero Fernández de Landa and belonging to the ''San Ildefonso'' class, her main guns were distributed along two complete decks, with twenty-eight 24-pounders in her first battery (lower deck) and thirty 18-pounders in her second battery (upper deck). Additionally on completion she had ten 8-pounders on her quarterdeck and six 8-pounders on her forecastle, although these guns were altered during her life.

History

She underwent proving trials between September and November 1794 alongside the ''Montañés'', also launched in 1794 but designed by Julián Martín de Retamosa (Romero de Landa's successor), aiming to work out whose method of construction was best. The trials were overseen by José Justo Salceno and the results favoured the ''Montañés''. The ''Monarca'' was assigned to

Juan de Lángara Juan Francisco de Lángara y Huarte (''Juan Francisco Langara Uharte'' in Basque) (1736 in Coruña, Galicia – 1806 in Madrid) was a Spanish naval officer and Minister of Marine. By all accounts, Lángara was a highly skilled, brave and s ...

's squadron, taking part in the defence of Roses. She took part in 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 ...

on 21 October 1805 under the command of Captain Teodoro Argumosa y Bourke. She was attacked at close range by ''Mars'' and ''Tonnant'' as they first cut the Franco-Spanish line. The ship behind the ''Tonnant'', the ''Bellerophon'', slipped under her stern at 12:30 and fired two broadsides into her. She was heavily damaged, with 100 men killed and 150 wounded. A party of 55 Royal Marines captured the ship, but the night after the battle the surviving Spanish crew overpowered them and cast them adrift, leaving them to the mercy of the storm that night. On 24 October the survivors decided to try to repair the ship's rudder and return to

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

, as the weather was improving, but an hour later they were pursued by ''Leviathan'', which also picked up the marines and some Spanish survivors of the storm. On 28 October the ship ran aground on the Arenas Gordas coast near

Huelva Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The ria ...

, between Torre de la Higuera and Torre del Asperillo, leaving it lying on its side. On 31 October she was destroyed by the guns of the frigate ''Naiad'' to avoid her being reused or refloated.

References

Bibliography

Arturo Pérez-Reverte Arturo Pérez-Reverte Gutiérrez (born 25 November 1951 in Cartagena) is a Spanish novelist and journalist. He worked as a war correspondent for RTVE for 21 years (1973–1994). His first novel, ''El húsar'', set in the Napoleonic Wars, was ...

, ''Cabo Trafalgar'', Alfaguara, 2004. *

External links

''Todo a Babor. Monarca (2)''''Spanish soldiers and sailors at Trafalgar (1)'' by Luís Aragón Martín''Spanish soldiers and sailors at Trafalgar (2)'' by Luís Aragón Martín
*José Romero Fernández de Landa, Un Ingeniero de Marina del Siglo XVIII, by José María de Juan-García Aguado, Universidade da Coruña, 1998.
List of Spanish ships built at Esteiro

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monarca (1794), Spanish ship 1794 ships Ships of the line of the Spanish Navy Ships built in Spain Maritime incidents in 1805 Shipwrecks of Spain

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links

External links