HMS Hercules (1759)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Hercules.

HMS Hercules was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, designed by Sir Thomas Slade and built at Deptford Dockyard by Adam Hayes and launched on 15 March 1759.^[1]

Model of a 74-gun ship, third rate, circa 1760. Thought to be either HMS Hercules or HMS Thunderer from 1760.
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Hercules
Ordered	15 July 1756
Builder	Deptford Dockyard
Launched	15 March 1759
Fate	Sold out of the service, 1784
General characteristics [1]
Class & type	Hercules-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	160834⁄94 (bm)
Length	166 ft 6 in (50.75 m) (gundeck)
Beam	46 ft 6 in (14.17 m)
Depth of hold	19 ft 9 in (6.02 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs Quarter deck: 14 × 9 pdrs Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs

Service history

On 20 November 1759, she took part in the huge conflict between the British and French fleets at the Battle of Quiberon Bay.

The ship took part as part of Admiral Rodney's fleet in the Battle of the Saintes under the command of Captain Henry Savage^[2] on 12 April 1782 against a French fleet, where she suffered six killed and 18 wounded. She was the third ship of the second wave in the part of the British line of battle and the first to hit the French flagship the Ville de Paris.^[3] Savage commanded from an armchair on the main deck due to his suffering from gout. Savage was injured in the chair, but the following treatment below deck reappeared in the chair in bandages.^[4]

She was paid off in July 1783 and sold at Plymouth in March 1784 for £1300.^[1]

Officers of note

• Charles Brisbane midshipman on Hercules 1781/2
• Thomas Hurd was an officer on Hercules in 1782.^[5]