ROYAL
NAVY HISTORY OF THE NAME HMS COLOSSUS
The
first HMS Colossus was a 74-gun ship, launched at Gravesend in 1787. She
was of 1610 tons and carried a crew of 640 men. Her length 172ft.
beam 48 feet and draught 18 feet. On June 6th 1793 HMS
Colossus commanded by Captain Charles M Pole, captured the 6 - gun vessel
Vanneau in the Bay of
Biscay. In 1793 HMS Colossus, was one of a fleet of 51 ships of various
kinds commanded by Vice-Admiral Lord Hood with his flag on HMS Victory.
They arrived off Toulon on August 15th to keep the French Fleet in check.
Inside the port were 58 ships, frigates and corvettes. the Royalist forces
surrendered the town, works and ships to Lord Hood, who landed seamen and
took possession of the forts. the Spaniards under Admiral Don Juan de
Langara cooperated with the English. Soon afterwards the French Republican
forces laid siege to the town, and continued their operations with such
activity that on December 15th the English and Spanish allies were forced
to evacuate the place. They took away with them 15,000 of the Royalist
population and before leaving destroyed the dockyards and magazines and
large number of the ships in the harbour. The Royalists who were left
behind were massacred by the republicans.
In
June 1795 HMS Colossus commanded by Captain John Monkton was one of a
fleet of 25 ships in all commanded by Admiral Lord Bridport with his
flagship HMS Royal George The French Fleet of 23 ships under Rear Admiral
Villaret-Joyeuse were sighted at 3.30 AM. A calm delayed three meeting,
but at 3AM on the 23rd an action started off Isle Groix with both fleets
scattered and spread over a large area. At 6AM a French ship struck and at
7.15 a second and third hauled down their colours. Soon after this Lord
Bridport, with a strange forbearance, ordered the action to discontinue,
and nine French ships of capital importance were permitted to escape. the
British lost lost 31 Killed and 113 wounded, to which HMS Colossus
contributed 3 Killed and 30 wounded. The French loss is unknown but in the
three prizes alone there were 670 killed and wounded. captain Monkton, an enthusiastic
Scotsman, kept a kilted piper on Board, and the story goes than when the
battle began the piper was ordered into the maintop mast staysail netting,
where he skirled merrily for the three hours the ship was in
action. In 1797 HMS Colossus commanded by captain George Murray was one of a fleet
of 15 ships and 7 small craft commanded by admiral Sir John Jervis with
his flagship HMS Victory. On February 14th they fought a battle of Cape St
Vincent with a Spanish Fleet of 27 ships commanded by Admiral Don Jose de
Cordova. On February 13th the Minerve flying the broad pennant of
Commodore Horatio Nelson, joined Sir John Jervis and informed him that the
Spaniards were at sea. the Spanish fleet was sighted at 6.30 am on the
14th and the British at once chased. the British leading ship opened fire
at 11.30am and the action was general by 1.30 pm. HMS Colossus while
tacking into action, had her foreyard and foretopsail yard shot away in
the slings, and her foretopmast went a little above the cap. She then
became exposed to a raking fire, but Captain Sir James Saumarez in HMS
Orion most gallantly backed his maintop sail and lay by to cover his
friend until the danger had passed. The "Captain" with commodore
Horatio nelson on board, boarded and captured the san Nicholas and San
Josef which had fouled one another. the action ceased at 4.30am when the British
had captured four Spanish ships of the line and had crippled several
others. The British lost no ships, but had 73 men killed and 227
seriously wounded. HMS Colossus lost 5 wounded. the Spaniards ;lost
about 1000 Killed and wounded. Sir John Jervis was created Earl St Vincent
and was given a pension of £3,000 a year. but it had already been decided
to make him a Baron before the Victory. several baronets and knighthoods
were given, and the thanks of both Houses of Parliament were voted to the
fleet.
In October 1798 HMS Colossus
commanded by captain George Murray was one of a squadron under Rear
Admiral Lord Nelson with his Flagship HMS Vanguard which took part in the
Blockade of Malta, then occupied by the French, and on October 28th the neighboring
and dependant island of Gozo capitulated. On December 10th 1798 HMS
Colossus commanded by Captain George Murray was wrecked and lost off the
Scilly Islands, but fortunately no lives were lost.
