Spanish ship Monarca (1756)

Plan of Monarca as captured
History
Spanish Navy EnsignSpain
NameMonarca
Ordered27 March 1754
BuilderNaval dockyard, Ferrol
Laid down1 April 1754
Launched13 June 1756
Captured16 January 1780, by Royal Navy
Notes
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
NameHMS Monarca
Acquired16 January 1780
FateSold, 1791
Notes
General characteristics [1]
Class and type68-gun third-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen1911 bm
Length174 ft 4+12 in (53.150 m) (gundeck)
Beam40 ft 10 in (12.45 m)
Depth of hold20 ft 7 in (6.27 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament68 guns of various weights of shot

Monarca was a 68-gun ship of the line of the Spanish Navy, ordered in 1754 to a design by expatriate British ship designer Richard Rooth and launched in 1756. She belonged to the four-ship Triunfante class.

She fought at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1780, in which she was captured by the Royal Navy and subsequently commissioned as the third rate HMS Monarca. She came under the command of Captain John Gell who was under the orders of Sir Samuel Hood to go to the West Indies. However, she was dismasted in a storm and obliged to return to Britain for refitting.[2]

She fought at the Battle of Cuddalore in 1783 and was sold out of the navy in 1791.

  1. ^ Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1. p182.
  2. ^ Hopton Catalogue, Wirksworth.org