HMS Superb (1798)

HMS Superb sails away from the Spanish fleet at Algeciras Bay, while the Hermenegildo and Real Carlos explode in the background after mistakenly firing on one other. Drawing by Antoine Léon Morel-Fatio.
History
Great Britain
NameHMS Superb
Ordered10 June 1795
BuilderPitcher, Northfleet
Laid downAugust 1795
Launched19 March 1798
FateBroken up, 1826
Notes
General characteristics [1]
Class and typePompée-class ship of the line
Tons burthen1,919 bm
Length182 ft 2 in (55.52 m) (gundeck)
Beam49 ft (15 m)
Depth of hold21 ft (6.4 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • 74 guns:
  • Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
  • Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 12 × 9-pounder guns
  • Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

HMS Superb was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, and the fourth vessel to bear the name. She was launched on 19 March 1798 from Northfleet, and was eventually broken up in 1826.[1] Superb is mostly associated with Richard Goodwin Keats who commanded her as captain from 1801 until his promotion in 1806. Keats famously spent only one night (in Algiers) out of the ship during four and a half years out of a home port.[2] She also served as his flagship from early 1808 until she was paid off in 1809.

Keats's captain's orders for the ship were comprehensive and used by the fledgling US navy, being found on USS Philadelphia in 1803 and the USS President a decade later.[3]

  1. ^ a b Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p185.
  2. ^ Hannah p.112
  3. ^ Hannah p.81