HMS Temeraire (1798)

Uncommon card · No. 199273

HMS Temeraire was a second-rate 98-gun ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1798, she served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, mostly on blockades or convoy escort duties. She only fought in one fleet action, the Battle of Trafalgar, but became so well known for that action and the ship's subsequent depictions in art and literature that she has been remembered as The Fighting Temeraire. Built at Chatham Dockyard, Temeraire began her naval service blockading Brest with the rest of the Channel Fleet. Missions were tedious and seldom relieved by engagements with the French Navy. The first incident of note came when several members of her crew, hearing rumours they were to be sent to the West Indies at a time when peace with France seemed imminent, refused to obey orders. The mutiny eventually failed and a number of mutineers were tried and executed. Laid up after the Peace of Amiens, Temeraire returned to active service following the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars...

Read on Wikipedia · Image J. M. W. Turner, Public domain