HMS Orion (1787)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

HMS Orion was a 74-gun 3rd rate ship of the line built at Deptford in 1787 to the design of the Canada, by William Bately. She saw far more than her fair share of action, taking part in all the major actions of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars under a series of distinguished captains.

In 1794 she fought at the Battle of the Glorious First of June under Captain John Thomas Duckworth.

In early 1795, Captain James Saumarez was appointed in command. Under Saumarez, Orion took part in the defeat of the French fleet at the Battle of Groix off Lorient on the 22nd of June.

In early 1797 she was sent to join the Mediterranean Fleet and distinguished herself at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent on February 14. She then took part in the blockade of Cadiz from March 1797 to April 1798, when she was sent into the Mediterranean as part of a small squadron under the command of Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson. In August, Nelson finally caught up with the French fleet, resulting in the Battle of the Nile, where Captain Saumarez was wounded.

Seven years later in October 1805, now under Captain Edward Codrington, she took part in the Trafalgar where, with Ajax, she forced the surrender of the French ship Intrépide, 74.

She was broken up in 1814.