HMS Agamemnon (1781)
HMS Agamemnon was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy. She saw service in the American Revolutionary War, French Revolutionary, and Napoleonic Wars and fought in many major naval battles. She is remembered as Horatio Nelson's favourite ship, and she was named after the mythical ancient Greek king Agamemnon, the first ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.
Duckworth's Action off San Domingo, 6 February 1806 by Nicholas Pocock. HMS Agamemnon is visible in the background, third from left. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Great Britain | |
| Name | HMS Agamemnon |
| Ordered | 8 April 1777 |
| Builder | Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard |
| Cost | £38,303 15s 4d |
| Laid down | May 1777 |
| Launched | 10 April 1781 |
| Commissioned | 28 March 1781 |
| Nickname(s) | Eggs-and-Bacon |
| Fate | Wrecked in Maldonado Bay Uruguay, 16 June 1809 |
| Notes |
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| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Ardent-class ship of the line |
| Tons burthen | 1,384 bm |
| Length | 160 ft (49 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam | 44 ft 4 in (13.51 m) |
| Depth of hold | 19 ft (5.8 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement | 500 officers and men |
| Armament |
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The future Lord Nelson served as Agamemnon's captain from January 1793 for three years and three months, during which time she saw considerable service in the Mediterranean. After Nelson's departure, she was involved in the infamous 1797 mutinies at Spithead and the Nore, and in 1801, she was present at the first Battle of Copenhagen, but she ran aground before being able to enter the action.
Despite Nelson's fondness for the ship, she frequently needed repair and refitting and would likely have been hulked or scrapped in 1802 had the war with France not recommenced. She fought at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 as part of Nelson's weather column, where she forced the surrender of the Spanish four-decker Santísima Trinidad. Agamemnon's later career was served in South American waters off Brazil.
Her worn-out and poor condition contributed to her being wrecked when, in June 1809, she grounded on an uncharted shoal in the mouth of the River Plate whilst seeking shelter with the rest of her squadron from a storm. All hands and most of the ship's stores were saved, but the condition of the ship's timbers made it impossible to free the ship; her captain was cleared of responsibility for the ship's loss thanks to documents detailing her defects. In 1993, the wreck of Agamemnon was located, and several artefacts have since been recovered, including one of her cannons.