HMS Vigilant (1774)
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HMS ''Vigilant'' was a 64-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
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 6 October 1774 at
Bucklers Hard Buckler's Hard is a hamlet in the civil parish of Beaulieu, in the New Forest district, in the county of Hampshire, England, on the banks of the Beaulieu River. With its two rows of Georgian cottages running down to the river, Buckler's Har ...
. By 1779 she had been deemed unseaworthy by the navy. She was stripped of her sails and used as a
floating battery A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship. History During the Capture of Mahdia (1550), capture of Mahdia in 1550, Spanish c ...
to support the amphibious landing of
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
troops on
Port Royal Island Port Royal Island (historically Port Royal) is an island located in Beaufort County, South Carolina, Beaufort County, South Carolina. It is considered one of the Sea Islands in the Lowcountry region and is the most populous island in northern Bea ...
,
South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
prior to the Battle of Beaufort.Rowland et al, p. 216 From 1799 she served 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 ...
, and was broken up in 1816.


Citations


References

*Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . *


External links

* Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Intrepid-class ships of the line 1774 ships Ships built on the Beaulieu River Floating batteries of the Royal Navy {{UK-line-ship-stub