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HISTORY
HMS Bellona was a 74-gun
third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, used in the
Napoleonic wars. Designed by Sir Thomas Slade, she was a
prototype for the iconic 74-gun ships of the latter part of the
18th century. She was built at Chatham, starting on May 10,
1758, launched on February 19, 1760, and commissioned three days
later. She left to join the squadron blockading Brest (this
being the Seven Years' War) on April 8.
Bellona was later detached to patrol off the Tagus River in
Spain, and on August 13, while sailing with the frigate
Brilliant, she sighted the French 74-gun ship Courageux in
company with two frigates. The British ships pursued, and after
14 hours, caught up with the French ships and engaged, the
Brilliant attacking the frigates, and Bellona taking on the
Courageux. The frigates eventually got away, but the Courageux
struck her colours, and was later repaired and taken into the
Royal Navy.
In 1762 Bellona was paid off and did not see action again until
1780, during the American Revolutionary War. She was coppered at
this time, one of the first British ships to receive the
hull-protecting layer. Until 1783 she cruised in the North Sea
and the West Indies, and participated in reliefs of Gibraltar.
Bellona was once again paid off, recommissioned briefly in 1789
in expectation of war with Russia, but didn't get into action
again until 1793, when she went to the West Indies. In 1801 she
was in the Battle of Copenhagen, participating despite having
grounded on a shoal. She continued to serve in the North Sea and
Bay of Biscay until 1814, when she paid off for the last time
and was broken up, having served in the navy for over 50 years,
an unusually long time for one of the old wooden ships.
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