HMS Malta (1800)

Capture of the William Tell, by Robert Dodd
History
France
Name	Guillaume Tell
Builder	Toulon
Laid down	September 1794
Launched	21 October 1795
Completed	By July 1796
Captured	30 March 1800, by the Royal Navy
Great Britain
Name	HMS Malta
Acquired	30 March 1800
Fate	Broken up in August 1840
General characteristics
Class and type	Tonnant-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	2,265 9⁄94 bm
Length	194 ft 4 in (59.2 m) (overall) 159 ft 8 in (48.7 m) (keel)
Beam	51 ft 7.5 in (15.7 m)
Depth of hold	23 ft 4 in (7.11 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	780
Armament	French service 30 × 36-pounder long guns 32 × 24-pounder long guns 18 × 12-pounder long guns 4 × obusiers de vaisseau British service: Lower deck: 30 × 32-pdrs + 2 × 68-pdr carronades Upper deck: 30 × 24-pdrs Quarterdeck: 18 × 24-pdrs + 8 × 24-pdr carronades Forecastle: 2 × 12-pdrs RH: 2 × 68-pdr carronades + 2 × 24-pdr carronades

HMS Malta was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She had previously served with the French Navy as the Tonnant-class Guillaume Tell, but was captured in the Mediterranean in 1800 by a British squadron enforcing the blockade of French-occupied Malta. Having served the French for less than four years from her completion in July 1796 to her capture in March 1800, she would eventually serve the British for forty years.

Guillaume Tell took part in the Battle of the Nile, but formed part of the rear of the French fleet and saw little action. She became one of only two French ships of the line to escape the destruction of the fleet, and took refuge at Malta. She was trapped there by the British blockade, and as the island began to fall to the British, she attempted to escape. She was spotted by a patrolling British frigate and attacked, with nearby British ships of the line joining the action. After a fierce fight she struck her colours and was taken by the British. Renamed HMS Malta after the island she was captured off she served in the Channel, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. She fought with Vice-Admiral Robert Calder's fleet at the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805, contributing to the capture of two enemy ships. Transferred to take part in the blockade of the French ports, she helped in the chase and capture of the French frigate Président in 1806. The last years of the war were spent as a flagship in the Mediterranean, after which she returned to Britain. She spent some time as the Plymouth guardship, and remained on active service until being reduced to a harbour depot ship, in which role she spent nearly a decade. She was finally broken up in 1840, forty years after her capture from the French.