HMS Albion (1763)

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Career
Laid down:
Launched:	1763
Status:	Wrecked, April 1797
General Characteristics
Displacement:
Length:	168 ft
Beam:
Propulsion:	Sails
Speed:
Range:	No fuel, so limited only by provisions
Complement:
Armament:	74 guns

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

HMS Albion was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built in 1763 at Deptford, being adapted from a design of the old 90-gun ship Neptune which had been built in 1719, and was the first ship to bear the name. She was the first of a series of ships built to the same lines, which became known as the Albion-class.

She saw her first action in the American War of Independence in July 1779 at the indecisive Battle of Grenada, when the British Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Byron managed to avoid defeat from superior French forces.

Albion's next action was a year later on 17 April 1780, when British and French fleets met in the Battle of Martinique (1780). A month later, on May 15th, the fleets met again. After a few days of manoeuvring the head of the British line confronted the rear-most French warships. Albion, leading the vanguard of the British Fleet suffered heavy casualties, but with little to show for it. Just four days later the two fleets clashed for the third time but again it was indecisive with Albion heavily engaged as before, suffering numerous casualties in the process.

In 1794 Albion was consigned to the role of a 60-gun floating battery armed with heavy carronades and moored on the Thames Estuary.

In April 1797, while heading to a new position in the Swin Channel, she ran aground. Two days later, during salvage efforts, her back broke, and she was completely wrecked.