''Reina Luisa'' (sometimes referred to as ''Reina María Luisa'' as she was named for

Queen Maria Luisa Maria Luisa of Parma (Luisa Maria Teresa Anna; 9 December 1751 – 2 January 1819) was, by marriage to King Charles IV of Spain, Queen of Spain from 1788 to 1808 leading up to the Peninsular War. Her relationship with Manuel Godoy and influence o ...

) was a 112-gun three-decker

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 tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

built at Ferrol for the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, 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 ...

in 1791 to plans by José Joaquín Romero Fernández de Landa. One of the eight very large ships of the line (''navíos'' in Spanish) of the '' Santa Ana'' class, also known as ''Los Meregildos''. The ''Reina Luisa'' served in the Spanish Navy for three decades throughout the French Revolutionary and

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, finally being wrecked off

Béjaïa Béjaïa ( ; , , ), formerly known as Bougie and Bugia, is a Mediterranean seaport, port city and communes of Algeria, commune on the Gulf of Béjaïa in Algeria; it is the capital of Béjaïa Province. Geography Location Béjaïa owes its ...

in 1815. Although she was a formidable part of the Spanish battlefleet throughout these conflicts, she did not participate in any major operations.

Construction

The ''Santa Ana'' class was built for the Spanish fleet in the 1780s and 1790s as heavy ships of the line, the equivalent of

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

first rate In the rating system of the 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 least ...

ships. The other ships of the class were the ''Santa Ana'', ''Mexicano'', ''Salvador del Mundo'', ''Real Carlos'', ''San Hermenegildo'', ''Conde de Regla'' and '' Príncipe de Asturias''. Three of the class were captured or destroyed during the French Revolutionary Wars. ''Reina Luisa'' was named for

. An error during the construction of ''Reina Luisa'' meant that she was given a larger keel than described in the plans, resulting in a slightly deeper draft in the stern and shallower in the bow.

History

In 1793 during the

War of the Pyrenees The War of the Pyrenees, also known as War of Roussillon or War of the Convention, was the Pyrenees, Pyrenean front of the First Coalition's war against the First French Republic. It pitted Revolutionary France against the kingdoms of History ...

, ''Reina Luisa'' was the flagship of the Spanish fleet commanded by

Juan de Lángara Juan Francisco de Lángara y Huarte (1736 – 1806) was a Spanish Navy officer and politician. Life and career Early life He was born at A Coruña, Galicia, the son of a renowned Basque family. His father was admiral Juan de Langara Ari ...

operating at the

Siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts and the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by forces of the French Re ...

, alongside the British fleet under Vice-Admiral Samuel Hood.Winfield, et al., p. 110 ''Reina María Luisa'' was subsequently engaged at the action of 14 February 1795. In 1809, ''Reina Luisa'' was renamed ''Fernando VII''. In 1810, under the command of Manuel de Posadas, ''Fernando VII'' sailed from

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

Port Mahon A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manches ...

, suffered a leak that could not be detected and upon arrival, was disarmed. In 1815, in poor condition, ''Fernando VII'' was ordered to travel from Port Mahon to Cartagena on 4 December with a reduced crew partly made up of American sailors from USS ''United States'', which accompanied ''Fernando VII'' on the journey alongside USS ''Ontario'' and HMS ''Boyne''. ''United States'' and ''Fernando VII'' separated from the other ships south of the island of Cabrera, in good weather but on 6 December a heavy storm began. Despite jettisoning 13 guns and an anchor to relieve weight, the leaking ship began to founder and sank on 10 December off the African coast near

. Although all of the crew were saved, they were held prisoner at

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

until the Spanish returned an Algerian ship recently seized off Spain. The exchange occurred in May 1816, following which the crew were acquitted by a

court martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the mili ...

for the loss of the ship.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reina Maria Luisa 1791 ships Ships of the line of the Spanish Navy Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Maritime incidents in 1810