HMS Impregnable was a 98-gun second rate three-decker ship of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, launched on 1 August 1810 at Chatham

Chatham Dockyard

Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...

. She was designed by Sir William Rule, and was the only ship built to her draught. Purportedly as originally built she was a near copy of the famed first rate , Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar

Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....

.

During the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

, she was used as the flagship of the Admiral the Duke of Clarence

Duke of Clarence

Duke of Clarence is a title which has been traditionally awarded to junior members of the English and British Royal families. The first three creations were in the Peerage of England, the fourth in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the fifth in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.The title was first...

 (later King William IV). She took part in the bombardment of Algiers in 1816 under the command of Admiral David Milne

David Milne

David Milne may refer to:* Sir David Milne , British admiral* David Milne , Canadian artist* David Milne , Australian rugby league player...

 where she was second in the order of battle. In the attack on Algiers, Impregnable lost Mr. John Hawkins, midshipman, 37 seamen, 10 marines and 2 boys killed and Mr. G. N. Wesley, Mr. Henry Quinn, 111 seamen, 21 marines, 9 sappers and miners and 17 boys wounded. The Impregnable saw little further action, apart from a short commission in the Mediterranean, and in 1819 she was placed in the Reserve Fleet at Devonport. From May 1839 to October 1841 she had relieved as the Commander-in-Chief's flagship moored at the entrance to the Hamoaze

Hamoaze

The Hamoaze is an estuarine stretch of the tidal River Tamar, between the River Lynher and Plymouth Sound, England.The Hamoaze flows past Devonport Dockyard, which belongs to the Royal Navy...

. She then saw service again in the Mediterranean until May 1843, when she was once again laid up with the reserve fleet at Devonport.

Impregnable was rated as a training ship in 1862 and removed from the reserve fleet to begin service at Devonport

HMNB Devonport

Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...

 training boy seamen for the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

.

On 27 September 1886, Impregnable was replaced by HMS Howe

HMS Howe (1860)

HMS Howe was built as a 121-gun screw first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She and her sister HMS Victoria were the first and only British three-decker ships of the line to be designed from the start for screw propulsion, but the Howe was never completed for sea service as she had...

 which was re-named HMS Bulwark as she became a training ship. The old Impregnable ended her days first as a tender to HMS Indus

HMS Indus (1839)

HMS Indus was an 80-gun two-deck second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 March 1839 at Portsmouth Dockyard.The design of Indus was based upon the Danish Christian VII, captured during the Second Battle of Copenhagen...

 and then on 9 November 1888 she was re-named HMS Kent to be used as a hulk in the event of an epidemic. On that date, her name, Impregnable, was given to HMS Bulwark (the former HMS Howe), still serving at Devonport. Three years later on 22 September 1891, she was once again re-named, this time HMS Caledonia, and became a Scottish boys training / school ship moored at Queensferry in the Firth of Forth

Firth of Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...

. She was sold for breaking up in 1906. Beginning with HMS Bulwark in 1886 until Impregnable moved ashore in 1936 and becoming a stone frigate

Stone frigate

Stone frigate is a nickname for a naval establishment on land. The term has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the French...

in the process, every subsequent vessel that served in this ship's stead as a school ship at Devonport had been re-named Impregnable in her honour. The training school eventually closed in 1948.