HMS ''Nelson'' was a 126-gun

first rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying at least ...

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 4 July 1814 at

Woolwich Dockyard Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich - originally in north-west Kent, now in southeast London - whe ...

, but then laid up incomplete at Portsmouth until 1854, when work began with a view to commissioning her for service in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

, but this ended before much work had been done, and the ship returned to reserve. She was converted into a screw ship in 1860, being cut down to a two-decker and fitted with an engine of for a speed of . In 1865, ''Nelson'' was given to the colony of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

as a training ship, and she was finally outfitted and rigged for £42,000 and sailed for Australia in October 1867. Travelling via the Cape of Good Hope, she arrived in February 1868. She was the first ship to dock in the newly constructed Alfred Graving Dock. Her armament in 1874 was listed as two 7-in RML, twenty 64 lb guns, twenty 32 lb guns and six 12 lb howitzers. During 1879–1882, ''Nelson'' was further cut down to a single deck and her rig reduced to the main mast only, the ship being reclassified as a frigate. Her old armament was partly replaced by modern breech-loaders. She was laid up at Willamstown in 1891, her boilers being removed in 1893. On 28 April 1898 she was put up for auction and sold to Bernard Einerson of Sydney for £2,400. In 1900 ''Nelson'' was cut down yet again to create a coal lighter that kept the name ''Nelson'', the upper timbers being used to build a drogher named ''Oceanic''. In 1908 ''Nelson'' was sold to the Union Steamship Co. of New Zealand, and in July was towed from Sydney to Beauty Point on the Tamar River, Tasmania, for use as a coal storage hulk. She later foundered there with 1,400 tons of coal on board and remained submerged for forty days until finally refloated. In January 1915 she was towed to Hobart for further service as a coal hulk, until sold in August 1920 to Mr. H Gray for £500 and towed an up river to Shag Bay. for gradual breaking up, work continuing into the 1930s, although some of her timbers still survive. The ship's figurehead was preserved by the NSW Naval Brigade, then the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

, before it was presented to the

Australian National Maritime Museum The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) is a Australian government, federally operated maritime museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney. After considering the idea of establishing a maritime museum, the federal government announced that a nation ...

for display. Several RML 64-pounder 58 cwt guns (Rifled Muzzle Loader, converted 32-pounder smoothbores) from ''Nelson'' can be found scattered around the State of Victoria, Australia in public areas, as well as two on military premises at

Victoria Barracks, Melbourne Victoria Barracks Melbourne is an Australian Government building located on St Kilda Road in Melbourne, Australia. It was constructed in the mid-to-late 19th century as barracks for Colonial forces of Australia, British colonial forces in Austra ...

, and one at

Fort Queenscliff Fort Queenscliff, in Victoria, Australia, dates from 1860 when an open battery was constructed on Shortland's Bluff to defend the entrance to Port Phillip. The Fort, which underwent major redevelopment in the late 1870s and 1880s, became the he ...

Notes

References

*Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . *Jones, Colin (1986) ''Australian Colonial Navies'' Australian War Memorial,

External links

*
HMVS Nelson SlideShow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson (1814) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Nelson-class ships of the line Coal hulks 1814 ships Maritime incidents in 1908 Ships of the Union Steam Ship Company