HMS Royal Sovereign (1786)

The opening engagement at Trafalgar; Royal Sovereign raking the stern of the Spanish flagship Santa Ana; John Wilson Carmichael
History
Great Britain
NameHMS Royal Sovereign
Ordered3 February 1772
BuilderPlymouth Dockyard
Laid down7 January 1774
Launched11 September 1786
RenamedHMS Captain, 17 August 1825
Honours and
awards
Participated in:
FateBroken up, 1841
NotesHarbour service from 1826
General characteristics [1]
Class and type100-gun first-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen2175 (bm)
Length183 ft 10+12 in (56.0 m) (gundeck)
Beam52 ft 1 in (15.88 m)
Depth of hold22 ft 2+12 in (6.8 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
  • Middle gundeck: 28 × 24-pounder guns
  • Upper gundeck: 30 × 12-pounder guns
  • QD: 10 × 12-pounder guns
  • Fc: 4 × 12-pounder guns

HMS Royal Sovereign was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy,[1] which served as the flagship of Admiral Collingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar. She was the third of seven Royal Navy ships to bear the name. She was launched at Plymouth Dockyard on 11 September 1786,[1] at a cost of £67,458, and was the only ship built to her design. Because of the high number of Northumbrians on board the crew were known as the Tars of the Tyne.[2]

  1. ^ a b c Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p178.
  2. ^ Famous Fighters of the Fleet, Edward Fraser, 1904, p.202