HMS Blake (1808)
Blake leaving Port Royal, Jamaica. (Thomas Buttersworth) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Blake |
| Ordered | 30 October 1805 |
| Builder | Deptford Dockyard |
| Laid down | April 1806 |
| Launched | 23 August 1808 |
| Fate | Sold, 1816 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class & type | Modified Courageux-class ship of the line |
| Tons burthen | 1822 (bm) |
| Length | 180 ft (54.9 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam | 48 ft 0+3⁄4 in (14.6 m) |
| Depth of hold | 20 ft 10 in (6.4 m) |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Armament |
|
HMS Blake was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 23 August 1808 at Deptford[1] and named in honour of Admiral Robert Blake.
On 26 September 1812, Blake and Franchise provided naval support to a land attack, at night, on Tarragona by troops under the command of General Joaquín Ibáñez Cuevas, Baron d'Eroles. The attack was successful, and resulted, inter alia, in the capture of several small vessels. The Spanish troops suffered three men killed and eight wounded; the British had no casualties whatsoever. Captain Edward Codrington, of Blake, wrote to Baron d'Eroles and to Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean, that the officers and crew declined any prize money from the action, in favour of the Spanish troops, "in admiration of the valour and the discipline which they shewed upon the occasion."[2]
Fate
From 1814 Blake served as a prison ship. In 1816 she was sold out of the navy.[1]
Notes
- ^ a b c Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 188.
- ^ "No. 16668". The London Gazette. 14 November 1812. pp. 2295–2296.
References
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben & Bush, Steve (2020). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (5th revised and updated ed.). Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-9327-0.
- Lavery, Brian (1984). The Ship of the Line. Vol. 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650-1850. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
- Winfield, Rif (2008) [2005]. British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates (2nd, revised ed.). Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4.