HMS ''Mars'' was a 74-gun
third-rate 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
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
, launched on 25 October 1794 at
Deptford Dockyard
Deptford Dockyard was an important Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard and base at Deptford on the River Thames, operated by the Royal Navy from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It built and maintained warships for 350 years, and man ...
.
Career
In the early part of the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...
she was assigned to the Channel Fleet. In 1797 under Captain
Alexander Hood she was prominent in the
Spithead mutiny. In 1798 at the
Battle of the Raz de Sein she fought a famous single-ship duel with the French
seventy-four ''Hercule'', in the dusk near the
Pointe du Raz
The Pointe du Raz is a promontory that extends into the Atlantic from western Brittany, in France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territori ...
on the coast of
Brittany
Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
. ''Hercule'' attempted to escape through the Passage du Raz but the tide was running in the wrong direction and she was forced to anchor, giving Captain Hood the chance to attack at close quarters. The two ships were of equal strength, but ''Hercule'' was newly commissioned; after more than an hour and a half of bloody fighting at close quarters she struck her flag, having lost over three hundred men. On ''Mars'' 31 men were killed and 60 wounded. Among the dead was Captain Hood.
''Mars'' fought at
Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to:
* The Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain
* Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England
Trafalgar may also refer to:
Places
* Cape Trafalgar, a headland in ...
where she was heavily damaged as she took fire from five different French and Spanish
seventy-fours. Among the 29 killed and 69 wounded in the action was her captain,
George Duff.
In 1806, on service in the Channel fleet she took part in an action off Chasseron which led to the capture of four French ships. She afterwards served off Portugal and in the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
.
Fate
''Mars'' was placed
in ordinary from 1813. She was broken up in 1823.
Notes
References
* William James, ''Naval History of Great Britain, 1793–1827''.
*
* Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. .
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mars (1794)
Ships of the line of the Royal Navy
Mars-class ships of the line
Ships built in Deptford
1794 ships