HMS Defence 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 on 31 March 1763 at Plymouth Dockyard

HMNB Devonport

Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...

. She was one of the most famous ships of the period, taking part in several of the most important naval battles of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

. In 1811 she was wrecked off the coast of Jutland

Jutland

Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...

 with the loss of almost her entire crew.

Service

During the American War of Independence, Defence served with the Channel fleet, seeing action at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent

Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780)

The naval Battle of Cape St Vincent, took place off the coast of Portugal on 16 January 1780 during the American War of Independence. A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a Spanish squadron under Don Juan de Lángara. The battle is sometimes referred to as the Moonlight Battle,...

 in 1780. She was sent out to India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 in early 1782 as part of a squadron of five ships under Commodore Sir Richard Bickerton, arriving too late for the battles of that year. But she took part in the last battle of the war, at Cuddalore

Battle of Cuddalore (1783)

The Battle of Cuddalore was a battle between a British fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes and a slightly smaller French fleet under the Bailli de Suffren off the coast of India near Cuddalore during the American Revolutionary War, which in 1780 had sparked the Second Mysore War in India...

 in 1783. She returned to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 at the end of 1785. She was then laid up during the years of peace until the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

.

Recommissioned into the Channel Fleet under Captain James Gambier

James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier

Admiral of the Fleet James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier GCB was an admiral of the Royal Navy, who served as Governor of Newfoundland, and as a Lord of the Admiralty, but who gained notoriety for his actions at the Battle of the Basque Roads.-Early career:Gambier was born in New Providence, The...

, she fought at the Glorious First of June

Glorious First of June

The Glorious First of June [Note A] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars...

 in 1794, distinguishing herself in action against Mucius and Tourville

French ship Tourville

Several ships of the French Navy have been named in honour of Anne Hilarion de Tourville. Among them:* Tourville, a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line...

, and becoming one of only two British ships to be completely dismasted in the battle. After repairs, she was sent to the Mediterranean, joining Admiral Hotham in time to take part in the Battle of Hyeres

Naval Battle of Hyères Islands

The Naval Battle of Hyères Islands was fought on 13 July 1795 off the Hyères Islands, a group of islands off the French Mediterranean coast, about 25 km east of Toulon. The battle was fought between the van of a British fleet chasing the French squadron, and the French rear...

 in July.

In 1798 she returned to the Mediterranean under Captain John Peyton, taking part in the Battle of the Nile

Battle of the Nile

The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...

 in August.

On 1 July 1800, Defence, , and the hired armed cutter Lord Nelson

Hired armed cutter Lord Nelson

During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the Royal Navy used several vessels that bore the designation hired armed cutter Lord Nelson, all named for Lord Horatio Nelson.-First Hired armed cutter Lord Nelson:...

 were in Bourneuf Bay when they sent in their boats to attack a French convoy at Île de Noirmoutier

Île de Noirmoutier

The island of Noirmoutier is off the Atlantic coast of France in the Vendée department.Parts of the island have been reclaimed from the sea. In 2005 it served as the finish of the Tour de France prologue....

. The British destroyed the French ship Therese (of 20 guns), a lugger (12 guns), two schooners (6 guns each) and a cutter (6 guns), of unknown names. The cutting out party also burned some 15 merchant vessels loaded with corn and supplies for the French fleet at Brest

Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

. However, in this enterprise, 92 officers and men out of the entire party of 192 men, fell prisoners to the French when their boats became stranded. Lord Nelson had contributed no men to the attacking force and so had no casualties. She did share in the head money with an able seaman receiving 3s 113/4d, and her commander receiving £6 8s 71/2, in 1825.

In 1801, Defence sailed to the Baltic under Captain Lord Henry Paulet

Henry Paulet

Lord Henry "Harry" Paulet KCB was an officer in the Royal Navy who saw service in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Born into the British nobility as a younger son of the Marquess of Winchester, he rose through the ranks and had gained his own command...

 with Admiral Hyde Parker's fleet. She was present at the Battle of Copenhagen (1801)

Battle of Copenhagen (1801)

The Battle of Copenhagen was an engagement which saw a British fleet under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker fight and strategically defeat a Danish-Norwegian fleet anchored just off Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson led the main attack. He famously disobeyed Parker's...

, but did not see action as she was part of the reserve under Parker.

In 1805 she saw action again at the Battle of 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 ....

, where, under Captain George Johnstone Hope

George Johnstone Hope

Rear-Admiral Sir George Johnstone Hope, KCB was a British naval officer, who served with distinction in the Royal Navy throughout the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, including service at the Battle of Trafalgar...

, she captured the San Ildefonso

Spanish ship San Ildefonso

San Ildefonso was a ship of the Spanish Navy launched in 1785. She was designed to be lighter than traditional Spanish vessels which had had difficulty matching the speed of ships of the Royal Navy. Though nominally a 74-gun ship the San Ildefonso actually carried 80 cannons and howitzers...

 and fought the , suffering 36 casualties.

Loss

She ran aground on 24 December 1811 off the west coast of Jutland

Jutland

Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

. She was under the command of Captain D. Atkins and in the company of St George

HMS St George (1785)

HMS St George was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 October 1785 at Portsmouth. In 1793 she captured one of the richest prizes ever. She then participated in the Naval Battle of Hyères Islands in 1795 and took part in the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801...

, under Rear-admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds

Robert Carthew Reynolds

Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds was a long serving and widely respected officer of the British Royal Navy who served in four separate major wars in a 52 year career...

, and Cressy

HMS Cressy (1810)

HMS Cressy was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 7 March 1810 at Frindsbury.-Service:On 24 December 1811 Cressy was off the west coast of Jutland, Denmark was in the company of St George, under Rear-admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds, and Defence, when a hurricane and...

, when a hurricane and heavy seas came up. St George was jury-rigged and so Atkins refused to leave her without the Admiral's permission. As a result both were wrecked near Ringkøbing

Ringkøbing

Ringkøbing is a town in Ringkøbing-Skjern municipality in Region Midtjylland on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in west Denmark. The town has a population of 9,742 .-History:...

. Cressy did not ask for permission and so avoided wrecking.

Defence lost all but 14 of her crew of 597 men and boys, including her captain. St George too lost almost her entire crew, including the admiral. Most of the bodies that came ashore were buried in the sand dunes of Thorsminde, which have been known ever since as "Dead Mens Dunes".

External links

• Ships of the World
• http://www.strandingsmuseum.dk