HMS Audacious (1785)

History of HMS Audacious (1785)

The HMS Audacious was a three-masted sailing ship that served the British Crown during the second half of the 18th century. Her keel was laid in August 1783 by Randall, the builder of Rotherhithe, who went to sea on 23 July 1785 to build a wooden ship of the period under the command of HMS Arrogant himself. This class is based on the previous Bellona class, which appeared in the mid-century and was itself numbered five.

Well-equipped with firepower that was ultimately deemed too small to carry, the Pride-class ships still played an important role at the forefront of British naval operations over the next century.

Audacious drains 1,625 tons under load, measures 168 feet long, 46.8 feet beam, and has a draft of 19.8 feet. Her sailing plans are described as fully rigged and her only means of propulsion are her intricate canvas placement on the three main masts and several supporting structures around the ship.

With a full crew of about 550, her voyages are limited only by the on-board food stores and the state of the hull and sailing gearan advantage of wind power in the age of naval warfare.

As one of the lines, she was asked to occupy a tactical position along the "front", a tactic that has been employed throughout the age of seafaring, requiring two columns of approaching opposing battleships to meet and attempt to maneuver past each other, before showing the full profile. Additionally, Audacious used the "third-rate" descriptor, roughly describing the design as a twin-gun deck platform with a total of 64 to 80 guns.

The term is a rating system used to better categorize these sailing warships.

HMS Audacious maintains a complete inventory of 74 guns on her various decks. Twenty-eight 32-pounders were mounted on her main gun deck, and 28 18-pounders were mounted on her upper gun deck.

The quarterdeck was armed with 14 9-pounders, while the forecastle was fitted with an additional 4 9-pounders. Overall, the Audacious can carry out sizable flanking attacks on enemy ships, or littoral bombardment of enemy forces while supporting Allied ground forces.

Her class is known for its powerful balance of firepower, speed and maneuverability.

The British put severe pressure on their sailing ships at the height of their empiricist rule - their navy, without being replaced by France, Spain or other great powers of the century, was often rated as the best in the world good navy. Audacious excels in shooter platform roles with her extensive and vast weapon collection, so she's expected to be featured at every major event due to her useful design attributes.

One of their most notable contributions was supporting British naval operations against France at the Battle of the Nile, 1-3 August 1798. The battle took place in the Gulf of Abu Kil in Egypt, when it was still under Ottoman rule. And saw thirteen British ships supported by a sloop against thirteen French ships and four supporting frigates. This action resulted in a decisive British naval victory, with four French ships crashed, nine captured, and as many as 5,000 men and over 3,000 prisoners lost. All this against the fact that 218 Britons were killed and 677 wounded in the battle, and no ships were lost.

The British contingent was led by Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, and one of the surrendered French ships was the Conqueror, recovered by the Royal Navy as HMS Conqueror.

With an outstanding career at sea, HMS Audacious was eventually retained and she was replaced by a more powerful battleship. She was dissolved in August 1815 and never sailed under the Royal Navy again.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Wing