HMS ''Ganges'' 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). Rating When the rating system was f ...

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 tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

of the

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, launched in 1782 at

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. She was the first ship of the Navy to bear the name, and was the name ship of her class. She saw active service from 1782 to 1811, in

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and the

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Origins

The British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

had Randall build a 74-gun ship under the name ''Bengal''. They then presented (donated) her to the Royal Navy, which renamed her HMS ''Ganges''.Hackman (2001), p.224. The Royal Navy commissioned ''Ganges'' in February 1782 under the command of Captain

Charles Fielding Charles Fielding (also known as Charles Feilding; 2 July 1738 – 11 January 1783) was a British naval officer who was the initiator of the Affair of Fielding and Bylandt in the run-up to the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. He attained the "rank" of Co ...

. She was paid-off in March, but immediately recommissioned under Captain J. Lutterell as a guardship at Portsmouth. Between 1784 and 1787, she was under the command of Captain Sir Roger Curtis. In October 1787 she became the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

. She was recommissioned in December 1790 under Captain Anthony Molloy.Winfield (2008), p.458.

French Revolutionary Wars

In 1794, whilst under the command of Captain William Truscott, she and captured the French

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

''Jacobine''. ''Jacobin'' was armed with twenty-four 12-pounder guns, and had a crew of 220 men; she was nine days out of Brest and had taken nothing. The Royal Navy took ''Jacobin'' into service as HMS ''Matilda''. ''Ganges'' was part of the squadron commanded by Admiral John Gell, which escorted a Spanish ship they had captured from the French back to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. The ownership of the ship was a matter of some debate and was not settled until 4 February 1795, when the value of the cargo was put at £935,000. At this time all the crew, captains, officers and admirals received a share of the

prize money Prize money refers in particular to naval prize money, usually arising in naval warfare, but also in other circumstances. It was a monetary reward paid in accordance with the prize law of a belligerent state to the crew of a ship belonging to ...

, Admiral Hood taking away £50,000. Besides ''Ganges'', the ships that conveyed the Spanish prize to Portsmouth were , , and .Annual Register (1795), Chronicle, p. 6. ''Ganges'' shared in the prize money from the capture of the French supply ship ''Marsouin'' by on 11 March 1796. Ships at Spithead 1797

''Ganges'' was under the command of Captain Thomas Fremantle at the Battle of Copenhagen. She had on board a contingent of soldiers from the

49th Foot The 49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) (Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1743. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Princess ...

, commanded by

Isaac Brock Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB (6 October 1769 – 13 October 1812) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Guernsey. He is best remembered for his victory at the Siege of Detroit and his death at the Battle of Quee ...

. Their mission was to storm the forts at Copenhagen, but the outcome of the naval battle made the assault unnecessary.

Napoleonic Wars

''Ganges'' was one of six British warships that shared in the capture on 23 August 1807 of the Danish vessel ''Speculation''. ''Ganges'' was also present at the

Second Battle of Copenhagen The Second Battle of Copenhagen (or the Bombardment of Copenhagen) (16 August – 7 September 1807) was a British bombardment of the Danish capital, Copenhagen, in order to capture or destroy the Dano-Norwegian fleet during the Napoleonic Wars ...

. She bore the flag of

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

Richard Goodwin Keats Admiral of the Blue Sir Richard Goodwin Keats, GCB (16 January 1757 – 5 April 1834) was a Royal Navy officer and colonial administrator who served in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He retired i ...

, and was commanded by Captain

Peter Halkett Admiral Sir Peter Halkett, 6th Baronet (''c.'' 1765 – 7 October 1839) was a senior Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century who is best known for his service in the French Revolutionary Wars. The younger son a Scottish baronet, Halke ...

. During the battle Keats placed a portrait of Admiral Nelson on the mizzen mast where it was said to have encouraged officers and men alike despite being covered in the blood and brains of an unfortunate seaman. In September 1810, two row-boat luggers, one from , under the command of Lieutenant Robert Streatfield, and one from ''Ganges'', under the command Lieutenants Stackpole, captured two Danish armed vessels off Lessoe. There were no British casualties.

Fate

She was commissioned as a

prison ship A prison ship, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoner of war, prisoners of war or civilian internees. Some prison ships were hulk (ship type), hulked. W ...

on 12 December 1811 for holding prisoners of war. Then in 1814 she was transferred to the Transport Board. ''Ganges'' was broken up at

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

in 1816.

Notes

References

*Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . * *J. Wright (printer) (1807
''The Annual Register, or a view of the History, Politics, and Literature, for the year 1795''
Google Books. Retrieved 6 October 2008.

HMS ''Ganges'' Association. Retrieved 1 November 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganges (1782) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Ganges-class ships of the line 1782 ships