HMS Minotaur (1816)

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

HMS Minotaur was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 April 1816 at Chatham Dockyard.

Minotaur in 1851
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Minotaur
Ordered	3 December 1811
Builder	Robert Seppings (1812-1813), George Parkin (1813-1816), Chatham Dockyard
Laid down	December 1812
Launched	15 April 1816
Fate	Broken up, 1869
General characteristics
Class & type	Ganges-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1726 3⁄94 bm
Length	139 ft 7.5 in (42.558 m) (gundeck)
Beam	48 ft 2.5 in (14.694 m)
Depth of hold	20 ft 3.75 in (6.1913 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	550
Armament	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs

The receiving ship Minotaur on moorings in front of Blockhouse Point, Sheerness and the '1 o'clock boat' (steamer) in the foreground, 25 January 1851

She was never commissioned for sea service; on completion of construction the new vessel was immediately placed in reserve at Sheerness Dockyard until 1842 when she was fitted as a receiving ship for naval conscripts. By 1859 she had become a guardship in Sheerness harbour, and in 1861 was converted into a floating lazarette for passengers from merchant vessels who were suspected by the Customs Service of bringing in disease. Five years later she was sailed to Gravesend to serve as a hospital for cholera patients.^[1]

In July 1866 she was renamed Hermes, but was broken up at Sheerness Dockyard in 1869.^[1]