HMS ''Rodney'' 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 r ...

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 English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, launched on 8 December 1809 at Deptford. The Dockyard was suffering from a shortage of seasoned timber at the time ''Rodney'' was being built. In consequence the hull was built from unseasoned wood which quickly shrunk and rotted when exposed to seawater. After just three years at sea all of the hull fastenings had given way and ''Rodney'' was returned to Deptford for decommissioning.Albion 2000, p. 395 In 1827 she was reduced to a 50-gun ship, and in 1836 ''Rodney'' was sold out of the Navy. In commercial service, ''Rodney'' collided with the British

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, on 11 October 1846, destroying her

pinnace Pinnace may refer to: * Pinnace (ship's boat), a small vessel used as a tender to larger vessels among other things * Full-rigged pinnace The full-rigged pinnace was the larger of two types of vessel called a pinnace in use from the sixteenth ...

, and was driven ashore.

Notes

References

* *Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . Vengeur-class ships of the line 1809 ships Ships built in Deptford Maritime incidents in October 1846 {{UK-line-ship-stub