HMS Queen Charlotte was a 100-gun first-rate

First-rate

First rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for its largest ships of the line. While the size and establishment of guns and men changed over the 250 years that the rating system held sway, from the early years of the eighteenth century the first rates comprised those ships mounting 100...

 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 15 April 1790 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 built to the draught of designed by Sir Edward Hunt

Edward Hunt

Edward Hunt arrived in Sydney in 1814 and soon rose to prominence in that city. He was a cabinet maker and involved in religious and charitable matters...

, though with a modified armament.

In 1794 the Queen Charlotte was the flagship of Admiral Lord Howe at the Battle of the Glorious First of June, and in 1795 she took part in the Battle of Groix

Battle of Groix

The Second Battle of Groix was a naval engagement that took place on 23 June 1795 during the French Revolutionary War off the west coast of France....

.

Fate

At about 6am on 17 March 1800, whilst operating as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Lord Keith, the vessel was engaging in a reconnoitre of the island of Cabrera

Cabrera, Balearic Islands

Cabrera is an uninhabited islet in the Balearic Islands, Spain, located in the Mediterranean Sea off the southern coast of Majorca. It is currently a National Park...

when she caught fire. Keith was not aboard at the time and observed the disaster from the shore.

The fire was believed to have resulted from loose hay having been accidentally thrown on a match tub. Two or three American vessels lying at anchor off Leghorn were able to render valuable assistance, losing several men in the effort as the vessel's guns exploded in the heat. Captain A. Todd wrote several accounts of the disaster that he gave to sailors to give to the Admiralty should they survive. He himself perished with his ship. The crew was unable to extinguish the flames and at about 11am the ship blew up with the loss of 673 officers and men.

External links

• Memorials and Monuments in Portsmouth (retrieved September 27, 2007).