HMS Britannia (1820)

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Career

Name:	HMS Britannia
Laid down:	1813
Launched:	20 October 1820
Fate:	Broken up, 1869
General Characteristics
Propulsion:	Sails
Armament:	120 guns of various weights of shot

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

HMS Britannia was a 120 gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1813 and launched on October 20, 1820.

Commissioned in 1823, she saw service in the Mediterranean from 1830-1 and in 1841. She was decommissioned in 1843, before returning to service for the Crimean War, serving as flagship of the British fleet in the Mediterranean and Black Sea from 1851-2.

She became a hospital ship at Portsmouth in 1855, then a cadet training ship in 1859. Moved to Portland in 1862, then Dartmouth in 1863.

She was finally sold for scrapping in 1869. Her place at Dartmouth was taken by HMS Prince of Wales, which was renamed Britannia for the role.

Generations of naval officers got their first taste of the navy aboard the two Britannias. Alumni included John Fisher, John Jellicoe, Roger Keyes, William Boyle, Augustus Agar and King George V.