HMS ''Colossus'' was a 74-gun

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third ...

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

. She was launched at

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is th ...

on 4 April 1787 and lost on 10 December 1798. During her years of service she participated in the

Battle of Groix The Battle of Groix was a large naval engagement which took place near the island of Groix off the Biscay coast of Brittany on 23 June 1795 ( 5 messidor an III) during the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle was fought between elements of the ...

, the Battle of Cape St Vincent, and the Battle of the Nile. While carrying wounded from the latter, she was wrecked at the Isles of Scilly. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

Early history

On 6 June 1793, in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

, she captured ''Vanneau'', a tiny vessel with an armament of just six guns, which the Royal Navy took into service. The same year, ''Colossus'' was part of a large fleet of 51 warships of numerous types, including a Spanish squadron, but commanded overall by Vice Admiral

Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (12 December 1724 – 27 January 1816) was an admiral in the Royal Navy. As a junior officer he saw action during the War of the Austrian Succession. While in temporary command of , he drove a French ship ashore i ...

Siege of Toulon

The Fleet arrived off

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label=Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is the ...

on 26 August 1793, with Lord Hood in the warship . The objective was to keep the French Fleet in check. In Toulon's port were 58 French warships, and Lord Hood was determined not to allow such a potent and dangerous fleet to be taken over by French revolutionary forces. The

Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanish ...

, the Royalists of France, had managed to retain control of Toulon, a vital

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

port. Upon the arrival of the British Fleet, the Bourbons duly surrendered the town and ships to Hood. Sailors and

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

began to land at Toulon from the ships of the

Fleet, with the objective of taking possession of the key forts, which they succeeded in doing. The French Republican forces quickly mobilised, and began the siege of Toulon on 7 September. By 15 December, the British and Spanish withdrew, taking with them 15,000 Royalists, as well as destroying the dockyards and a large number of French warships. The Royal Navy lost 10 ships after the French captured the heights overlooking the harbour. In 1795, ''Colossus'' was once again part of a large fleet action, the

. A fleet of 25 ships commanded by Admiral Lord Bridport on his flagship, , fought a French fleet of 23 warships under the command of Rear-Admiral

Villaret-Joyeuse Louis-Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse (29 May 1747Granier, p.87Some biographers give a date of 1750 (Levot, p.541). Granier quotes the registers of Sainte-Marie parish. – 24 July 1812Levot, p.544) was a French admiral. Villaret was born at Auch ...

. The battle was immense and chaotic, and raged across a vast area, yet it came to an indecisive end, when Bridport ordered his Fleet to cease fighting at 7.15am, just four hours after the initial fighting had started. This decision allowed nine important French warships to escape. ''Colossus'' received damage, suffering three killed and thirty wounded. In total, British losses were 31 killed and 113 wounded. French losses are not known; it is estimated over 670 French sailors were killed or wounded, during skirmishes that resulted in the capture of three French warships. Though ''Colossus'' was involved in much bitter fighting, her Scots captain,

John Monkton Rear-Admiral John Monkton (c. 1754 – October 1826) was a Royal Navy officer of the late eighteenth century who is best known for his service in the French Revolutionary Wars as a commander of a ship of the line seeing action in several enga ...

, ordered his kilt-wearing piper to proceed to the maintop mast staysail netting and play the pipes throughout the battle, no doubt to the bemusement of the French sailors who witnessed it.

Battle of Cape St. Vincent

In February 1797, ''Colossus'' (now commanded by Captain George Murray) was involved in yet another large-scale clash of fleets in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. She was part of a 21-ship strong fleet (including 7 smaller craft) under the command of Admiral John Jervis in his flagship HMS ''Victory'', against a Spanish Fleet of 27 ships commanded by Lieutenant-General Don José de Córdoba y Ramos. ''Colossus'' sustained serious damage, her sails being virtually shot away. It looked inevitable that she would be raked by Spanish warships, until headed for ''Colossus'' and covered her. The battle was a major victory for the Royal Navy. Despite being outnumbered, it captured four Spanish ships and crippled seven, including the largest warship afloat at that time - the ''Santísima Trinidad''.

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

lost approximately 300 killed or wounded; the Spanish lost 1,092 killed or wounded, and 2,300 taken prisoner.

Other action

As the fleet repaired at Naples ''Colossus'' was immediately sent "on a cruise off Malta". She then went to Gibraltar before returning to the now repaired fleet in Naples. In the summer, William Bolton (later Captain) was promoted to Lieutenant on the ''Colossus'', and the ship on the obverse of the 1797 medal featuring William Bolton may represent ''Colossus''. ''Colossus'' was not cannibalized; Captain Murray did, however, hand over to Nelson three of his guns and one bower anchor. This was done as ''Colossus'' had been ordered home to England, whereas the was staying within the war zone. Loaded with Greek vases and wounded men from the battle of the Nile, ''Colossus'' set off for home. She stopped at Algiers and at Lisbon on the way. At Lisbon she joined a larger convoy that was "bound for Ireland and other northern ports". The convoy dispersed in the English Channel as planned.

Shipwreck

Amidst the bad winter weather ''Colossus'' sighted the Isles of Scilly first and came to anchor in St Mary's Roads on 7 December.Naval Chronicle 1798, vol. 1, pp.86, 165. Cited in Grocott 1997, pp. 64-65 For three days she intended to ride out the storm, only for it to increase. On the night of 10 December an anchor cable parted and the ship ran aground on a submerged ledge of rock off Samson Island. Only one life was lost, that of Quartermaster Richard King who drowned when he fell overboard while trying to sound the lead. Boats were immediately put out from the island, and all of the other crew were transported to safety by the morning. On 11 December the ship settled on her side, the starboard beam ends touching the waves. Attempts to reboard her were thwarted by continued high seas. On 15 December ''Colossus'' mainmast and bowsprit broke away and it became clear she could no longer be refloated. A naval brig, , was able to put alongside the shipwrecked vessel on 29 December and bring away a quantity of stores and the body of Admiral Molyneux Shuldam which had been transported aboard ''Colossus'' for reburial in England. No further salvage proved possible and the vessel sank entirely in early January 1799.

Modern discovery and protection

In the closing years of the 1960s, Roland Morris, a marine salver, began diving on the site, searching for the antiquities that ''Colossus'' had been transporting. In 1974, he discovered ''Colossus'', as well as fragments from the collection of Sir William Hamilton which ''Colossus'' had been transporting. Many of the items found were reconstructed and are now displayed at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

In 2000, a report from amateur diver Todd Stevens alerted the

Receiver of Wreck The Receiver of Wreck is an official who administers law dealing with maritime wrecks and salvage in some countries having a British administrative heritage. In the United Kingdom, the Receiver of Wreck is also appointed to retain the possession o ...

to the existence of further remains. As a result of this new discovery the Isles of Scilly Museum in

Hugh Town Hugh Town ( kw, Treworenys or ) is the largest settlement on the Isles of Scilly and its administrative centre. The town is situated on the island of St Mary's, the largest and most populous island in the archipelago, and is located on a narro ...

was handed a vast collection of artefacts from this wreck for display. These new remains turned out to be the stern of the wreck, which held a large carving from the stern port quarter gallery. This carving was claimed to have been discovered by local diver Carmen Stevens but not reported until the following year when the wreck site was designated on 4 July 2001 under the

Protection of Wrecks Act The Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provides protection for designated shipwrecks. Section 1 of the act provides for wrecks to be designated because of historical, archaeological or ...

as a result of the find when reported meaning that diving or other interference within 300 metres of the site was not permitted without a licence. In August 2001 the Archaeological Diving Unit of the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

obtained a survey licence and carried out a pre-disturbance survey of the site. The ''Colossus'' carving was recovered from the site in 2002 (as shown in a ''Time Team'' TV special in October 2002) and after conservation by the

Mary Rose Trust The Mary Rose Trust is a limited charitable trust based in Portsmouth in the United Kingdom. Its primary aims are to preserve, display and spread knowledge about the 16th century warship '' Mary Rose'' which sank in the Solent on 19 July 1545 ...

, was returned to Scilly in 2010 to be placed on display in the Valhalla figurehead collection on Tresco Island. Further extensive licensed surveys were carried out by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Archaeological Society from 2003 to 2005. Exploration of the wreck is ongoing year on year by Survey Licence Holder Todd Stevens and IMAG (The Islands Maritime Archaeological Group) who have produced an overall site plan of the whole wreck site. The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeology Society (CISMAS) has been routinely inspecting and recording the site since 2001. The CISMAS projects are funded and endorsed by

(at the time called

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

). In May 2012 CISMAS embarked on an excavation of a portion of the stern of the wreck, focusing on recording finds related to the gun deck and on initiating a long-term reburial trial. New wreck material was found in the vicinity of the stern in 2014, prompting further excavation work in 2015. This raised new questions about the wrecking process which was investigated in 2017, leading to a new wrecking theory. In 2018

published the investigation and conservation of artefacts from HMS ''Colossus'', thought to be a small concentration of personal items (50 buttons, a bone brush/ shoe horn and a textile fragment) recovered under a surface recovery license by the 2014 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeological Society (CISMAS) team. The objects were analysed and stabilised by the Historic England conservation lab, at Fort Cumberland, Portsmouth.

References

;Notes ;Citations ;Bibliography * *

External links

Wreck of ''Colossus'' - The find of a lifetime (by Todd Stevens)HMS ''Colossus'' (The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime and Archaeology Society)Photos taken during a survey (Wessex Archaeology)"HMS ''Colossus''" National Heritage List for England
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colossus (1787) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Courageux-class ships of the line Shipwrecks of the Isles of Scilly Cornish shipwrecks Protected Wrecks of England Maritime incidents in 1798 1787 ships Ships built in England 1798 in England