HMS Fortitude (1780)
| History | |
|---|---|
 UK
|
|
| Name: | HMS Fortitude |
| Ordered: | 2 February 1778 |
| Builder: | Randall, Rotherhithe |
| Laid down: | 4 March 1778 |
| Launched: | 23 March 1780 |
| Honours and awards: |
|
| Fate: | Broken up, 1820 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Albion-class ship of the line |
| Tons burthen: | 1645 bm |
| Length: | 168 ft (51 m) (gundeck) |
| Depth of hold: | 18 ft 10 in (5.74 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Full rigged ship |
| Armament: |
|
HMS Fortitude was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by John Randall & Co. and launched on 23 March 1780 at Rotherhithe.
Under Captain Richard Bickerton, Fortitude served in the English Channel. In April 1781 she participated in the second relief of Gibraltar. In May 1781, during the Fourth Anglo–Dutch War, Vice-Admiral Hyde Parker's shifted his flag from HMS Victory to Fortitude. On 5 August, Fortitude fought in the Battle of Dogger Bank as Parker's flagship. After a desperate, bloody battle in which neither combatant gained any advantage, both sides drew off.
In 1793, under Captain William Young she sailed for the Mediterranean to join Admiral Sir Samuel Hood's fleet there.
On 7 February 1794 Fortitude, under the command of Captain William Young, and Juno attacked a tower at Mortella Point, on the coast of Corsica. The tower, though manned by only 33 men and heavily damaged by the ships' guns, held out for two days before surrendering to land-based forces under Sir John Moore, having lost two men mortally wounded. In her unsuccessful bombardment, Fortitude suffered extensive damage to her hull, masts, rigging and sails, particularly from heated shot, and had three lower-deck guns disabled. In all, she lost six men killed and 56 men wounded, including eight dangerously. The design of the tower so impressed the British that they made it the model for Martello Towers that they would later construct in Great Britain and many of their colonies.
...
Wikipedia