HMS Swiftsure was the lead ship of her class of two 74-gun third-rate ships of the line built for the Royal Navy during the first decade of the 19th century. Completed in 1804, she participated in the Trafalgar campaign of 1805, including in the Battle of Trafalgar itself.
After the Napoleonic Wars, she was decommissioned, and repurposed as a receiving ship. She was broken up in 1845
Description
The Swiftsure-class ship of the line was designed by Sir John Henslow, co-Surveyor of the Navy. Swiftsure measured on the gundeck and on the keel. She had a beam of , a depth of hold of and had a tonnage of 1,725 <small></small> tons burthen. The ship's draught was forward and aft at light load; fully loaded, her draught would be significantly deeper. The crew of the Swiftsures numbered 590 officers and ratings. The ships were fitted with three masts and ship-rigged. The ship was ordered on 16 August 1800 from Henry Adams and was laid down at his shipyard in Bucklers Hard in August 1802 by his sons Balthazar and Edward Adams. She was launched on 23 July 1804 and completed at Devonport Dockyard between 31 July and 24 September. Swiftsure was commissioned by Captain Mark Robinson in August 1805.
Coincidentally the French 74-gun ship Swiftsure also took part in the battle; she had originally been a British ship that the French had captured in 1801.
A large convoy of over 230 vessels, with Swiftsure as its flagship, departed Spithead anchorage on 2 December 1814 and arrived at Port Royal on 11 February 1815.