HMS Glatton (1795)

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HMS Glatton was a 56-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Originally an East Indiaman, she was bought by the Royal Navy in 1795, and converted into a warship. She was commanded by Henry Trollope when she fought in the Battle of Camperdown, in 1797. She was commanded by Captain William Bligh, formerly of HMS Bounty, and fought at the Battle of Copenhagen, in 1801. In 1814, she was converted into a water depot and subsequently sunk as a breakwater in 1830.

Glatton was unusual in that she was the only ship of the line to be armed exclusively with carronades instead of the traditional long guns that other warships carried in this era. Carronades were half the weight of the equivalent cannon, and could be worked by fewer men. They could also fire much heavier shot; Glatton was armed with twenty-eight 64-pounder and twenty-eight 32-pounder carronades. This extremely heavy armament meant that the fourth rate Glatton could discharge a heavier and more destructive broadside than the mighty first-rate Victory. The disadvantage of this weaponry was that due to the shorter barrel, carronades were only accurate at very close range. Therefore, in combat with a contemporary opponent, Glatton would have to endure the fire of the enemy long guns while closing the gap to point-blank range before she could effectively return fire — if indeed the enemy would allow her to approach so close.

The Dutch, at Camperdown, and the Danes, at Copenhagen, both went to sea with older ships, as small, or smaller than the Glatton. The French or Spanish ships of the line, like the British, were all larger than the Glatton.

Under her first captain, Henry Trollope, this heavy armament allowed her to attack a French squadron consisting of a 50-gun ship, five frigates, a brig, and a cutter in the English Channel and drive them into Flushing.

See HMS Glatton for other ships of this name.

[edit] References

• J. J. Colledge, Ships of the Royal Navy, Greenhill Books, 1987.