HMS Leviathan (1790)

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

HMS Leviathan was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy, launched on 9 October 1790.^[1]

Leviathan on the stocks, finished, at the Royal Dockyard Chatham, 1789

Leviathan (1790)
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Leviathan
Ordered	9 December 1779
Builder	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down	May 1782
Launched	9 October 1790
Honours & awards	Participated in: Battle of Trafalgar
Fate	Sold and broken up, 1848
General characteristics [1]
Class & type	Courageux-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1,70789⁄94 (bm)
Length	172 ft 3 in (52.50 m) (gundeck)
Beam	47 ft 9 in (14.55 m)
Depth of hold	20 ft 9+1⁄2 in (6.3 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs

Service history

At the Battle of Trafalgar under Henry William Bayntun, she was near the front of the windward column led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard his flagship, HMS Victory, and captured the Spanish ship San Agustín. A flag said to have been flown by the Leviathan at Trafalgar is to be sold at auction by Arthur Cory in March 2016 - Bayntun is thought to have given it to his friend the Duke of Clarence (later William IV), who then gave it to Arthur Cory's direct ancestor Nicholas Cory, a senior officer on William's royal yacht HMS Royal Sovereign, in thanks for helping the yacht win a race and a bet.^[2][3]

Leviathan, Pompee, Anson, Melpomene, and Childers shared in the proceeds of the capture on 10 September 1797 of the Tordenskiold.^[4]

In 1809, she took part in the Battle of Maguelone.^[5]

Attack on convoy of eighteen French merchant ships at Laigrelia, 1812

On 27 June 1812, Leviathan, Imperieuse, Curacoa and Eclair attacked an 18-strong French convoy at Laigueglia and Alassio in Liguria, northern Italy.

Fate

In 1816, after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, she was converted into a prison ship and in 1848 was sold and broken up.^[1]