HMS Captain (1787)

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HMS Captain was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1787.

At the start of the French Revolutionary War, she was part of the Mediterranean fleet which occupied Toulon at the invitation of the Royalists in 1793 before being driven out by Revolutionary troops in an action where Napoleon Bonaparte made his name. In June 1796, Captain Horatio Nelson was transferred from HMS Agamemnon into Captain Admiral Sir John Jervis. Nelson was appointed as commodore of a squadron which was first deployed off Livorno during Napoleon's march through northern Italy. In September Nelson oversaw the British withdrawal from Corsica.

In February 1797, Nelson had rejoined Jervis's fleet 25 miles west of Cape St. Vincent at the southwest tip of Portugal, just before it intercepted a Spanish fleet on February 14. The battle of Cape St Vincent made both Jervis and Nelson's names. Jervis was made Earl St Vincent and Nelson was knighted for his initiative and daring. Nelson realised that the leading Spanish ships were escaping and wore Captain to break out of the line of battle to attack the much larger Spanish ships. Captain exchanged fire with the Spanish flagship, Santísima Trinidad, which mounted 136 guns on four decks. Later she was closely engaged with San Nicolas 80 when the Spanish ship was disabled by a broadside from Excellent and ran into another ship, San Josef 112. With Captain hardly manoeuvrable, Nelson ran his ship alongside San Nicolas, which he boarded. Nelson was preparing to order his men to board San Josef next when she signalled her intent to surrender. The boarding of San Nicolas, which resulted in the taking of the two larger ships was later immortalised as "Nelson's Patent Bridge for capturing First-rates"

Captain was the most severely damaged of the British ships as she was in the thick of the action for longer than any other ship. She was returned to service following repairs and took part in the capture of Martinique in 1809. Later in 1809, she was put into harbour service, and in 1813 she was accidentally burned in Plymouth while undergoing conversion to a sheer hulk.

See HMS Captain for other ships of this name.

[edit] Reference

• Anthony Preston, The World's Worst Warships. Conway Maritime Press (2002). ISBN 0-85177-754-6