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HMS Caledonia (1808)

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

HMS Caledonia, 120 guns, lying in Plymouth Sound
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Caledonia
Ordered19 January 1797
BuilderPlymouth Dockyard
Laid downJanuary 1805
Launched25 June 1808
RenamedHMS Dreadnought, 1856
Honours and
awards		Participated in bombardment of Algiers, 1816
FateBroken up, 1875
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeCaledonia-class ship of the line
Tons burthen26165⁄94 (bm)
Length205 ft (62 m) (gundeck)
Beam53 ft 6 in (16.31 m)
Depth of hold23 ft 2 in (7.06 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • 120 guns:
  • Gundeck: 32 × 32 pdrs
  • Middle gundeck: 34 × 24 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 34 × 18 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 6 × 12 pdrs, 10 × 32 pdr carronades
  • Forecastle: 2 × 12 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades
  • Poop deck: 2 × 18 pdr carronades

HMS Caledonia was a 120-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 June 1808 at Plymouth.[1] She was Admiral Pellew's flagship in the Mediterranean.

Construction

The Admiralty orders for Caledonia's construction were issued in November 1794, for a 100-gun vessel measuring approximately 2,600 tons burthen. There were considerable delays in obtaining dockyard facilities and in assembling a workforce, and actual building did not commence until 1805 when the keel was laid down at Plymouth Dockyard. By this time the designs had also been amended to stipulate construction of a 120-gun vessel of 2,6165⁄94 tons. When completed to this new design in 1808, Caledonia entered Royal Navy service as the largest and most heavily armed vessel of the time.[2]

Active service

Caledonia proved to be a very successful ship, and it was said that 'This fine three-decker rides easy at her anchors, carries her lee ports well, rolls and pitches quite easy, generally carries her helm half a turn a-weather, steers, works and stays remarkably well, is a weatherly ship, and lies-to very close.' She was 'allowed by all hands to be faultless'. In later years she was to become the standard design for British three-deckers.[3]

On 12 February 1814 she took part with HMS Boyne in action against the French ship of the line Romulus off Toulon; the French vessel managed to escape to Toulon by sailing close to the coast to avoid being surrounded.

In 1831 she was part of the Experimental Squadron of the Channel Fleet under Sir Edward Codrington. On 12 September that year she took part in an experiment whereby she was towed by the frigate HMS Galatea by means of hand-worked paddles alone.[4]

In 1856 she was converted to a hospital ship,[1] renamed Dreadnought and became the second floating Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital at Greenwich, where she remained until 1870. In 1871 she was briefly returned to service, as a lazaret, to accommodate patients recovering from the smallpox epidemic of that year.[citation needed] Towed to the breakers in 1872,[5] she was broken up in 1875.[1]

images of HMS Caledonia
  • Caledonia as Dreadnought towed away on her final voyage.
    Caledonia as Dreadnought towed away on her final voyage.
  • Fight of the Romulus against HMS Boyne and HMS Caledonia, by Gilbert Pierre-Julien (1783 - 1860)
    Fight of the Romulus against HMS Boyne and HMS Caledonia, by Gilbert Pierre-Julien (1783 - 1860)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Lavery, Ships of the Line Vol. 1, p. 182.
  2. ^ Winfield 2010, p.77
  3. ^ Lavery, Nelson's Navy, p. 44.
  4. ^ Major-General Edward Elers Napier, The Life and Correspondence of Admiral Sir Charles Napier K.C.B. (London: Hurst & Blackett, 1862), Volume I, p. 152.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

References

  • Lavery, Brian (2003). The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0851772528.
  • Lavery, Brian (1989). Nelson's Navy: The Ships, Men and Organisation 1793-1815. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0851775217.
  • Lyon, David; Winfield, Rif (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815-1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1861760329.
  • Winfield, Rif (2010). First Rate: The Greatest Warships of the Age of Sail. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781591142645.
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