HMS Bellona (1760)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Bellona |
| Laid down: | 10 May 1758 |
| Launched: | 19 February 1760 |
| Fate: | Broken up, 1814 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 1615 tons (1640.92 tonnes) |
| Length: | 168 ft (gundeck), 138 ft (keel) |
| Beam: | 46 ft 9 in |
| Draught: | 21 ft 6 in |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Complement: | 650 officers and men |
| Armament: | 74 guns:
|
| Honours and awards: | Participated in: |
The second HMS Bellona was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, used in the Napoleonic wars. Designed by Sir Thomas Slade, she was a prototype for the iconic 74-gun ships of the latter part of the 18th century. She was built at Chatham, starting on May 10, 1758, launched on February 19, 1760, and commissioned three days later. She left to join the squadron blockading Brest (this being the Seven Years' War) on April 8.
Bellona was later detached to patrol off the Tagus River in Spain, and on August 13, while sailing with the frigate Brilliant, she sighted the French 74-gun ship Courageux in company with two frigates. The British ships pursued, and after 14 hours, caught up with the French ships and engaged, the Brilliant attacking the frigates, and Bellona taking on the Courageux. The frigates eventually got away, but the Courageux struck her colours, and was later repaired and taken into the Royal Navy.
In 1762 Bellona was paid off and did not see action again until 1780, during the American Revolutionary War. She was coppered at this time, one of the first British ships to receive the hull-protecting layer. Until 1783 she cruised in the North Sea and the West Indies, and participated in reliefs of Gibraltar.
Bellona was once again paid off, recommissioned briefly in 1789 in expectation of war with Russia, but didn't get into action again until 1793, when she went to the West Indies. In 1801 she was in the Battle of Copenhagen, participating despite having grounded on a shoal. She continued to serve in the North Sea and Bay of Biscay until 1814, when she paid off for the last time and was broken up, having served in the navy for over 50 years, an unusually long time for one of the old wooden ships.
[edit] Bellona in fiction
Bellona appears in the Patrick O'Brian novels The Commodore and The Yellow Admiral as the pennant ship of a squadron led by the character Jack Aubrey.
[edit] References
- Brian Lavery, The 74-gun Ship Bellona (London: Conway Maritime Press, 1985) ISBN 0-87021-148-X
