HMS Atlas (1782)

Career (UK)
Name: HMS Atlas
Ordered: 5 August 1777
Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Laid down: 1 October 1777
Launched: 13 February 1782
Fate: Broken up, 1821
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:Duke-class ship of the line
Tons burthen:1950 bm
Length:177 ft 6 in (54.10 m) (gundeck)
Beam:50 ft (15 m)
Depth of hold:21 ft 2 in (6.45 m)
Sail plan:Full-rigged ship
Armament:98 guns:
  • Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounders
  • Middle gundeck: 30 × 18-pounders
  • Upper gundeck: 30 × 12-pounders
  • Quarterdeck: 8 × 12-pounders
  • Forecastle: 2 × 12-pounders
For other ships of the same name, see HMS Atlas.

HMS Atlas was a 98-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 February 1782.[1] She was a Duke-class ship of the line built at Chatham Dockyard by Nicholas Phillips.

For some of the period between 1798 and 1802, she was under the command of Captain Theophilus Jones.[2] In 1802 she was reduced to a 74-gun ship.

She participated in the naval Battle of San Domingo on 6 February 1806, when she suffered eight killed and 11 wounded. Her captain was Samuel Pym, who had joined her the year before.

In 1808, while off Cadiz and serving as the flagship of Rear Admiral Purvis, she came under fire from French batteries on many occasions. In all, she lost about 50 men killed and wounded. She was responsible for the destruction of Fort Catalina.[3]

Atlas was fitted as a temporary prison ship at Portsmouth from 1813 to 1814. She then spent some months as a powder magazine. She was finally broken up in 1821.[1]

Citations and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 179.
  2. The United Service Magazine. 1836. pp. 95–6. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  3. http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=0246

References

  • Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
  • Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships of the Age of Sail 17931817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.