Defence
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Defence
Ordered23 March 1809
BuilderChatham Dockyard
Laid downMay 1812
Launched25 April 1815
FateBurnt, 1857
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeVengeur-class ship of the line
Tons burthen1754 bm
Length176 ft (54 m) (gundeck)
Beam47 ft 6 in (14.48 m)
Depth of hold21 ft (6.4 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • 74 guns:
  • Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 4 × 12 pdrs, 10 × 32 pdr carronades
  • Forecastle: 2 × 12 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades
  • Poop deck: 6 × 18 pdr carronades

HMS Defence was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 April 1815 at Chatham.[1]

She was converted to serve as a prison ship in 1849.[1] Defence was badly damaged by an accidental fire, probably caused by spontaneous combustion in a recently delivered load of coal,[2] at Woolwich on 14 July 1857.[3]</ref> The fire was extinguished by scuttling the ship.[2] and while it was not totally destroyed the remains were broken up later.[3]

Sectional view of the interior of the Defence Hulk, (The Woolwich prison ships)
The Defence hulk and the Unite convict hospital ship, off Woolwich

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Lavery, Ships of the Line vol. 1, p. 189.
  2. 1 2 The Hobart Town Mercury, 30 Oct 1857, p2
  3. 1 2 Gosset (1986), p. 114.

References

  • Gosset, William Patrick (1986). The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900. Mansell. ISBN 0-7201-1816-6.
  • 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.


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