HMS Colossus was a 74-gun third-rate

Third-rate

In the British Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks . Years of experience proved that the third rate ships embodied the best compromise between sailing ability , firepower, and cost...

 ship of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, launched from Deptford Dockyard on 23 April 1803. She was designed by Sir John Henslow

John Henslow

Sir John Henslow was Surveyor to the Navy a post he held jointly or solely from 1784 to 1806.-Career:He was 7th child of John Henslow a master carpenter in the dockyard at Woolwich...

 as one of the large class 74s, and was the name ship of her class, the other being . As a large 74, she carried 24 pdrs on her upper gun deck, as opposed to the 18 pdrs found on the middling and common class 74s. She took part in the Battle of Trafalgar, and was broken up in 1826.

Napoleonic Wars

On 27 August 1803 Colossus recaptured the East Indiaman Lord Nelson

Lord Nelson (East Indiaman)

Lord Nelson was an East Indiaman, launched in late 1799, sailing for the East India Company. She made five voyages, of which she completed four. On her second voyage the French privateer Bellone captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her within about two weeks...

, which the French privateer Belone had captured two weeks before and which had fought to the point of surrender.

Trafalgar

Colossus fought at Trafalgar

Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....

 under Captain James Nicoll Morris

James Nicoll Morris

Vice-Admiral Sir James Nicoll Morris KCB was a Royal Navy officer with a history of distinguished service during the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars, especially at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, where the majority of his ship's crew were killed or...

, in Collingwood

Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood

Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood was an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently as Nelson's successor in commands.-Early years:Collingwood was born in Newcastle upon Tyne...

's lee column. After sustaining fire from the enemy fleet, she eventually ran by the French Swiftsure, 74, and became entangled with Argonaute

French ship Argonaute

A large number of ships of the French Navy have borne the name Argonaute in honour of the mythological navigators argonauts. Among them:* Argonaute , a 50-gun ship of the line, personal ship of Emmanuel-Auguste de Cahideuc, Comte Dubois de la Motte* Argonaute , a 46-gun ship of the line, lead ship...

, 74. Towards the end of the exchange of fire between the two ships, Captain Morris was hit by a shot from one of Argonaute's guns, just above the knee. Argonaute broke free from Colossus after this, whilst the British ship was engaging both Swiftsure and the Spanish Bahama, 74, on her other side. Bahama surrendered when Colossus brought down her main mast, and Swiftsure did likewise after combined fire from Colossus and brought down her main and mizzen masts.

War of 1812

On 24 March 1812, Colossus was in company with , , and when they captured the Emilie.

On 5 January 1813 Colossus, the frigate Rhin

French frigate Rhin (1802)

Rhin was a 44-gun Virginie-class frigate of the French Navy launched in 1802. She was present at two major battles while in French service. Then the Royal Navy captured her in 1806. Thereafter Rhin served until 1815 capturing numerous vessels. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars she was laid up...

 and the brig Goldfinch captured the American ship Dolphin. A little over a month later, on 11 February, Rhin and Colossus captured the American ship Print.

Fate

In 1815 Colossus was placed in ordinary

Reserve fleet

A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....

 at Chatham. She was eventually broken up in 1826.