HMS Neptune (1797)

Neptune engaged, Trafalgar, 1805, by John Francis Sartorius. HMS Neptune, seen in bow profile, exchanges broadsides with the Spanish Santísima Trinidad
History
Great Britain
Name	Neptune
Ordered	15 February 1790
Builder	Deptford Dockyard
Laid down	April 1791
Launched	28 January 1797
Fate	Broken up in October 1818
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Neptune-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	2,110 53⁄94 (bm)
Length	185 ft (56 m) (gundeck)
Beam	51 ft (16 m)
Depth of hold	21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	750
Armament	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Middle gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder guns QD: 8 × 12-pounder guns Fc: 2 × 12-pounder guns

HMS Neptune was a 98-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She served on a number of stations during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was present at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Neptune was built during the early years of the war with Revolutionary France and was launched in 1797. She almost immediately became caught up in the events of the mutiny at the Nore, and was one of a few loyal ships tasked with attacking mutinous vessels if they could not be brought to order. The mutiny died out before this became necessary and Neptune joined the Channel Fleet. She moved to the Mediterranean in 1799, spending the rest of the French Revolutionary Wars in operations with Vice-Admiral Lord Keith's fleet. After refitting, and spending time on blockades, she formed part of Lord Nelson's fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar, and was heavily involved in the fighting, sustaining casualties of 10 killed and 34 wounded.

She was not fully repaired and returned to service until 1807, when she went out to the Caribbean. In 1809 she participated in the successful invasion of Martinique, and the subsequent battle with Troude's squadron. Returning to Britain towards the end of the wars, she was laid up in ordinary, and in 1813 became a temporary prison ship. She was finally broken up in 1818.