HMS Magnificent (1766)
Loss of the Magnificent by John Christian Schetky
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History | |
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Great Britain | |
Name | HMS Magnificent |
Ordered | 16 December 1761 |
Builder | Deptford Dockyard |
Laid down | 15 April 1762 |
Launched | 20 September 1766 |
Commissioned | July 1778 |
Fate | Wrecked off Brest, 25 March 1804 |
Notes |
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General characteristics [1] | |
Class and type | Ramillies-class ship of the line |
Tons burthen | 161264⁄94 (bm) |
Length | 168 ft 6 in (51.36 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 |
HMS Magnificent was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Adam Hayes launched on 20 September 1766 at Deptford Dockyard. She was one of the Ramillies-class[1] built to update the Navy and replace ships lost following the Seven Years' War. She served through two wars before her loss during blockade duty off the French coast.[citation needed]
On 21 December 1779, HMS Magnificent with the 74-gun ships
Her war service in the
Magnificent came under the command of Captain John Giffard on 23 February 1801 upon his transfer from
On the morning of 25 March 1804, during her duties blockading the French port of Brest, she struck an uncharted reef close to the Black Rocks that bordered the port and rapidly began to founder. The remaining ships of the blockading squadron closed in and removed most of the crew, the remainder of whom took to boats as the ship sank at 10.30am, just an hour and a half after she struck the reef. Although all her crew survived, a boat carrying 86 men became diverted from the main group and was washed ashore on the French coast, where the men remained in captivity for ten years. The captain, William Jervis, was later reported to have lost £1500 in lost property on board the wreck.[4]
Notes
- ^ a b Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p177.
- ISBN 9781108018531.
- ^ "The 8th West India Regiment Revolts". Lennox Honychurch. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ISBN 0-8117-1533-7.
References
- Grocott, Terence, Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras, Caxton Editions, Great Britain: 2002. ISBN 1-84067-164-5.
- 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.
- Lyon, David (1993) The Sailing Navy List. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-617-5.
External links
- Media related to HMS Magnificent (ship, 1766) at Wikimedia Commons
- Royal Navy History Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine