HMS Centaur (1797)

HMS Centaur at Mount Diamond, Martinique
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Centaur
Ordered	17 January 1788
Builder	Woolwich Dockyard
Laid down	November 1790
Launched	14 March 1797
Commissioned	June 1797
Honours and awards	Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Centaur 26 Augt. 1808"[1]
Fate	Broken up, 1819
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	Mars-class ship of the line 74-gun
Tons burthen	184224⁄94 (bm)
Length	176 ft (54 m) (gundeck) 144 ft 3 in (44.0 m) (keel)
Beam	49 ft (15 m)
Depth of hold	20 ft (6.1 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 24-pounder guns QD: 12 × 9-pounder guns Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

HMS Centaur was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 March 1797 at Woolwich. She served as Sir Samuel Hood's flagship in the Leeward Islands and the Channel. During her 22-year career Centaur saw action in the Mediterranean, the Channel, the West Indies, and the Baltic, fighting the French, the Dutch, the Danes, and the Russians. She was broken up in 1819.