H.M.S. Defence
1763
(Aquarius AQ-2051a)
- Class: Arrogant 3rd rate (3m) 74 gun
- Displacement: 1,630 tons
- Dimensions: 168 x 46.8 x 19.8 ft.
- Armament: 28 x 32 pdr., 28 x 18 pdr., 18 x 9 pdr.
- Complement: 530
- Designer: Sir Thomas Slade
- Built: Devonport Dockyard, England, 1763
- Service: Part of Adm. Sir Edward Hughes' fleet at the battle of Cuddalore, India,
20 Jun 1782, against Suffren. At the Glorious First of June, 1794, as part of Adm. Lord
Howe's Channel Fleet, she broke the French line under Villaret-Joyeuse. With Adm. Sir John
Jervis at the Battle of Cape Vincent, 14 Feb 1797 against the Spanish fleet under Cordoba .
Then part of Adm. Horatio Nelson's fleet at the Battle of the Nile, 1 Aug 1798 and at the
Battle of Copenhagen, 2 Apr 1801, as part of Adm. Sir Hyde Parker's squadron. Under
Capt. George Hope, she sailed as part of Adm. Collingwood's lee column at the Battle of
Trafalgar, 21 Oct 1805, where she engaged the French Berwick and forced the
surrender of the Spanish San Ildefonso. Later detailed to the Baltic Fleet, she was
returning to Britain when she ran aground and foundered on the Danish coast, 24 Dec 1811;
only five survived.
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