HMS Caledonia (1808)

HMS Caledonia

Ship data flag  United Kingdom Ship type Ship of the line Shipyard Plymouth Dockyard Keel laying January 1805 Launch June 25, 1808

Ship dimensions and crew length 62 m ( Lüa ) width 16.31 m Draft Max. 7.06 m

Armament 126 cannons 32 × 32 pounder 34 × 24 pounder 34 × 18 pounder 8 × 12 pounder 12 × 32 pounder carronades 2 × 18 pounder carronades

The HMS Caledonia was a first class ship of the line of the Royal Navy with 122 cannons.

history

As one of nine ships of the Caledonia class named after her , the HMS Caledonia was commissioned on January 19, 1797. The keel was laid in January 1805 and the launch on June 25, 1808. On February 12, 1814, she was involved with the HMS Boyne in a heavy firefight against the French ship of the line Romulus , which sailed close to the coast in order not to be surrounded. The Romulus was finally able to escape to Toulon .

In 1831 she was part of the Experimental Squadron of the Channel Fleet under Sir Edward Codrington . On September 12th of this year she took part in an experiment in which she was towed by the frigate HMS Galatea using only hand oars.

In 1856 she was converted to a hospital ship, renamed the Dreadnought , and became the second ship of the Seamen's Hospital Society at Greenwich , where she remained until 1870. She was briefly brought back into service in 1871 to house patients who were recovering from that year's smallpox epidemic . It was scrapped in 1875.

literature

• Brian Lavery: The Ship of the Line. Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet, 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press, London 2003, ISBN 0-85177-252-8 .
• Brian Lavery: Nelson's Navy. The Ships, Men and Organization. 1793-1815. Conway Maritime Press, London 1989, ISBN 0-85177-521-7 .
• David Lyon, Rif Winfield: The Sail & Steam Navy List. All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815-1889. Chatham Publishing, London 2004, ISBN 1-86176-032-9 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Brian Lavery: The Ship of the Line. Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet, 1650-1850. 2003, p. 182.
2. ^ Elers Napier: The Life and Correspondence of Admiral Sir Charles Napier KCB Volume 1. Hurst & Blackett, London 1862, p. 152 .