HMS Edgar (1779)
HMS Edgar in the Downs circa 1810
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History | |
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Great Britain | |
Name | HMS Edgar |
Ordered | 25 August 1774 |
Builder | Woolwich Dockyard |
Laid down | 26 August 1776 |
Launched | 30 June 1779 |
Renamed | HMS Retribution, 1815 |
Honours and awards |
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Fate | Broken up, 1835 |
General characteristics [2] | |
Class and type | Arrogant-class ship of the line |
Tons burthen | 1,60993⁄94 (bm) |
Length | 168 ft (51 m) (gundeck) |
Beam | 46 ft 9 in (14.25 m) |
Depth of hold | 19 ft 9 in (6.02 m) |
Propulsion | Sails |
Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
Armament |
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HMS Edgar was a 74-gun
Edgar also saw service as flagship to two different admirals, and was the scene of a mutiny in 1808. After the end of her active career, she was employed as a prison ship before her 56-year life came to an end in 1835, when she was ordered to be broken up.
Construction
Edgar was ordered from
A list composed in or around 1793, giving details of twelve Royal Navy ships, reveals that Edgar possessed a white figurehead, with details painted in red and black. Of the other eleven ships mentioned, seven had the plain white figureheads as completed by the dockyards, whilst four had painted theirs with a larger palette since being launched.[4]
American Revolutionary War
Edgar was launched when
In November 1781, the Admiralty had received intelligence that a large convoy was preparing to sail from
Her second major action came on 20 October 1782 when she was part of Admiral Richard Howe's fleet of 35 ships of the line at the Battle of Cape Spartel. The fleet had encountered the combined Franco-Spanish fleet of 46 ships of the line under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova, and some exchange of fire took place before Admiral Howe ordered a retreat.[8]
Edgar spent the remainder of the war in the Channel Fleet under Admiral George Darby.[3][5]
Between the wars
After the conclusion of the war in 1783, Edgar was fitted for service as a
Edgar was recommissioned in April 1791 and joined the home fleet.[3]
French Revolutionary War
After France's declaration of war against Great Britain brought the country into the
In 1794 the crew of HMS Defiance rose up in mutiny whilst the ship lay in Leith Roads. Edgar was ordered alongside Defiance, and if it were deemed necessary to restore order, to engage her. A comment left by one of Edgar's crew suggests that had the order been given to fire, it would not have been obeyed, as the crew thought that the mutineers aboard Defiance were in the right.[11]
In 1800 Edgar was part of the Channel Fleet under Admiral Sir Alan Gardner blockading the important French port of Brest. She was forced to return to Plymouth on 18 February after sustaining damage to her mainmast, and after repairs sailed from Plymouth with HMS Dragon, rejoining the Fleet on 13 May. Edgar was driven from her station on blockade duty on 9 November by hurricane-force winds, and again put into Plymouth for repairs.[9] 2 April 1801
On 28 February 1801, Captain
Napoleonic Wars
The Revolutionary War was brought to an end on 25 March 1802 with the Treaty of Amiens, and war gave way to a period of uneasy peace. In June 1802 Edgar was taken into Chatham for repairs. She was recommissioned in 1805 as part of the doubling and bracing programme, and served as Admiral Lord Keith's flagship off Texel, blockading the Dutch coast.[3][9] Edgar, along with several other ships, was in the Downs on 17 December, when HMS Victory came in to shelter from gales that had blown up, hampering her progress to Chatham. Victory was returning to England after the Battle of Trafalgar, and on board was the body of the late Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson.[14]
On 28 March 1808, there was an attempted mutiny on board whilst Edgar was lying in
Gunboat War
In May 1808 Edgar was one of the 12 ships of the line forming part of Vice-Admiral Sir
When word of the uprising of the Spanish against the French in 1808 reached Denmark, some 12,000 Spanish troops stationed in Denmark and under the Marquis de la Romana decided that they wished to leave French service and return to Spain. The Marquis contacted Rear-Admiral Keats, on Superb, who was in command of a small British squadron in the Kattegat.[17] They agreed a plan and on 9 August 1808 the Spaniards seized the fort and town of Nyborg. Keats then prepared to take possession of the port and to organize the departure of the Spanish. Keats informed the Danish authorities that if they did not impede the operation he would spare the town. The Danes agreed, except for the captains of two small Danish warships in the harbour.[18]
On 11 August Keats sent in the boats from Edgar, under the command of her captain,
The British organized the evacuation of the Spanish troops using some 50 or so local boats. Some 10,000 troops returned to Spain via Britain.[17][Note 2]
In early July 1810 Edgar, in company with
Fate
Edgar was laid up
Notes
- ^ Translation from the Danish websites [1] and [2].
- ^ Not all the Spaniards got away. Two squadrons of Spanish cavalry based as far away as Horsens on Jutland tried, on 10 August 1808, to make their way to Nyborg, but were stopped at the Little Belt crossing where Danish and French troops had reacted quickly to prevent further deserters crossing to the island of Funen.(from Danish website)
- ^ Skibsted spent a year as a prisoner of war in England. On his return to Denmark he underwent a court martial, was reprimanded for the loss of his vessels and ordered to pay the courts costs.[22]
Citations
- ^ a b Mayo (1897), Vol. 2, p.304.
- ^ a b c Lavery, The Ship of the Line – Volume 1, p180.
- ^ a b c d e f Lavery, The Ship of the Line – Volume 1, pp104-105.
- ^ a b c Winfield. British Warships. p. 75.
- ^ Thomas Luny (1759–1837). Rehs Galleries, Inc. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
- ^ Goodwin, The Ships of Trafalgar, p12.
- ^ Combate de Espartel. 20 de octubre de 1782. Batalla de Espartel. Todo a Babor. Retrieved 27 November 2008. (Spanish).
- ^ a b c d e f g Michael Phillips. Edgar (74) (1779). Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
- ^ J. Wright (printer) (1807) The Annual Register, or a view of the History, Politics, and Literature, for the year 1795. Google Books, p6. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
- ^ Goodwin, The Ships of Trafalgar, p56.
- ^ Goodwin, Nelson's Ships, p125.
- ^ Goodwin, Nelson's Ships, p262.
- ^ Goodwin, The Ships of Trafalgar, p121.
- ^ Goodwin, Nelson's Ships, p176.
- ^ a b Long (1895), pp.235–6.
- ^ a b "No. 16174". The London Gazette. 5 August 1800. pp. 1149–1152.
- ^ "No. 16393". The London Gazette. 4 August 1810. p. 1162.
- ^ Naval Chronicle. Vol 14, p.255-6
- ^ "No. 16578". The London Gazette. 25 February 1812. p. 385.
- ^ Topsøe-Jensen and Marquard (1935), pp.519–20.
Bibliography
- Goodwin, Peter (2002). Nelson's Ships – A History of the Vessels in which he Served, 1771–1805. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-742-9.
- Goodwin, Peter (2005). The Ships of Trafalgar: The British, French and Spanish Fleets October 1805. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 1-84486-015-9.
- Lavery, Brian (2000). Nelson's Navy: The Ships, Men and Organisation 1793–1815. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-521-7.
- Lavery, Brian (2003). The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
- Long, William H. (1895) Medals of the British navy and how they were won: with a list of those officers, who for their gallant conduct were granted honorary swords and plate by the Committee of the Patriotic Fund. (London: Norie & Wilson).
- Mayo, John Horsley (1897) Medals and decorations of the British Army and Navy. (John Constable).
- (in Danish) Topsøe-Jensen, T. A. and Emil Marquard (1935) Officerer i den dansk-norske Søetat 1660–1814 og den danske Søetat 1814–1932 (Translates as: Officers of the Danish-Norwegian Naval Service 1660 -1814 and the Danish Naval Service 1814–1932). (Copenhagen: H. Gagerup).
- Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-295-5.
External links
- Media related to HMS Edgar (ship, 1779) at Wikimedia Commons