''Monarca'' 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

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

. She was ordered by a royal order of 28 September 1791, built in the

Reales Astilleros de Esteiro The Real Astillero de Esteiro (in English: Esteiro Royal Dockyards) was a royal shipyard in Ferrol in Spain. Orders for its construction were issued by Ferdinand VI of Spain on 9 April 1749, following the decision by the naval minister Zenón de ...

shipyard and launched on 17 March 1794. Designed by José Romero Fernández de Landa and belonging to the , her main guns were distributed along two complete decks, with twenty-eight 24-pounders in her first battery (lower deck) and thirty 18-pounders in her second battery (upper deck). Additionally on completion she had ten 8-pounders on her quarterdeck and six 8-pounders on her forecastle, although these guns were altered during her life.

History

She underwent proving trials between September and November 1794 alongside the , also launched in 1794 but designed by Julián Martín de Retamosa (Romero de Landa's successor), aiming to work out whose method of construction was best. The trials were overseen by José Justo Salceno and the results favoured the ''Montañés''. The ''Monarca'' was assigned to

Juan de Lángara Juan Francisco de Lángara y Huarte (1736 – 1806) was a Spanish Navy officer and politician. Life and career Early life He was born at A Coruña, Galicia, the son of a renowned Basque family. His father was admiral Juan de Langara Ari ...

's squadron, taking part in the defence of

Roses A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be e ...

. She took part in the

battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

on 21 October 1805 under the command of Captain Teodoro Argumosa y Bourke. She was attacked at close range by and as they first cut the Franco-Spanish line. The ship behind the ''Tonnant'', , slipped under her stern at 12:30 and fired two broadsides into her. She was heavily damaged, with 100 men killed and 150 wounded. A party of 55

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

captured the ship, but the night after the battle the surviving Spanish crew overpowered them and cast them adrift, leaving them to the mercy of the storm that night. On 24 October the survivors decided to try to repair the ship's rudder and return to

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

, as the weather was improving, but an hour later they were pursued by , which also picked up the marines and some Spanish survivors of the storm. On 28 October the ship ran aground on the Arenas Gordas coast near

Huelva Huelva ( , , ) is a municipality of Spain and the capital of the Huelva (province), province of Huelva, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. Located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits betwee ...

, between Torre de la Higuera and Torre del Asperillo, leaving it lying on its side. On 31 October she was destroyed by the guns of the frigate to avoid her being reused or refloated.

References

Bibliography

Arturo Pérez-Reverte Arturo Pérez-Reverte Gutiérrez (born 25 November 1951) is a Spanish novelist and journalist. He worked as a war correspondent for RTVE for 21 years (1973–1994). His first novel, '' El húsar'', set in the Napoleonic Wars, was published in ...

, ''Cabo Trafalgar'', Alfaguara, 2004. *

External links

''Todo a Babor. Monarca (2)''''Spanish soldiers and sailors at Trafalgar (1)'' by Luís Aragón Martín''Spanish soldiers and sailors at Trafalgar (2)'' by Luís Aragón Martín
*José Romero Fernández de Landa, Un Ingeniero de Marina del Siglo XVIII, by José María de Juan-García Aguado, Universidade da Coruña, 1998.
List of Spanish ships built at Esteiro

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monarca (1794), Spanish ship 1794 ships Ships of the line of the Spanish Navy Ships built in Spain Maritime incidents in 1805 Shipwrecks of Spain

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links

External links