HMS Thunderer was a 74-gun third rate 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...

, built at the Wells brother's shipyard in Rotherhithe

Rotherhithe

Rotherhithe is a residential district in inner southeast London, England and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is located on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping and the Isle of Dogs on the north bank, and is a part of the Docklands area...

 and launched on 13 November 1783. After completion, she was laid up until 1792, when she underwent a 'Middling Repair' to bring her into service in 1793.

In 1794 she fought at the Glorious First of June

Glorious First of June

The Glorious First of June [Note A] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars...

 under Captain Albemarle Bertie

Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet

Admiral Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, KCB, was a long-serving and at time controversial officer of the British Royal Navy who saw extensive service in his career but also courted controversy with several of his actions....

, and from 1796 to 1801 served in the West Indies, under a succession of captains.

Thunderer was recommissioned in 1803, and in 1805 she fought in Admiral Calder's

Robert Calder

Admiral Sir Robert Calder, 1st Baronet, KCB was a British naval officer who served in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.-Early life:...

 fleet at the Battle of Cape Finisterre

Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805)

In the Battle of Cape Finisterre off Galicia, Spain, the British fleet under Admiral Robert Calder fought an indecisive naval battle against the Combined Franco-Spanish fleet which was returning from the West Indies...

. Her captain, William Lechmere

William Lechmere

William Lechmere was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....

, returned to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 to attend a court-martial

Court-martial

A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...

 as a witness to the events of Admiral Calder's action off Cape Finisterre at the time of the battle.

Later that year she fought 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 ....

 under the command of her First Lieutenant John Stockham

John Stockham

Captain John Stockham was an officer in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, whose career is now obscured to the point that very little of his life is known up until 1805, when he was suddenly and unexpectedly called upon to command the ship of the line at the Battle of Trafalgar.-Early...

, The surgeon on board was Scotsman

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 James Marr Brydone

James Marr Brydone

James Marr Brydone , born in Selkirk, Scotland, was a Scottish surgeon who served in the British fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar.He is best remembered for being the first person in the main British battle fleet to sight the Franco-Spanish fleet, and did so without the use of a glass...

, who was the first of the main British battle fleet to sight the Franco-Spanish fleet. Thunderer signalled the Victory

HMS Victory

HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805....

 and three minutes later battle orders were signalled to the British fleet beginning the Battle of Trafalgar.

In 1807, Thunderer served in the Dardanelles Operation

Dardanelles Operation

The Dardanelles Operation was the Royal Navy's unsuccessful attempt to impose British demands on the Ottoman Empire as part of the Anglo-Turkish War ....

 as part of a squadron under Admiral Sir John Duckworth

John Thomas Duckworth

Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth, 1st Baronet, GCB was a British naval officer, serving during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as the Governor of Newfoundland during the War of 1812, and a member of the British House of Commons during his...

 and was badly damaged when the squadron withdrew from the area. However, she accompanied Duckworth on the Alexandria expedition of 1807, and in May left Alexandria for Malta, where she was provisioned and repaired over a period of 30 days.

She was decommissioned in November 1808 and broken up in March 1814.

It is reputed that some of her timbers were re-used to build Christ Church, Totland

Christ Church, Totland

Christ Church, Totland is a parish church in the Church of England located in Totland, Isle of Wight.-History:The church dates from 1875 and was designed by the architects Halbershon and Pite....

 on the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

, whilst others were used in the construction of the lych gate at St. Nicolas' Church

St. Nicolas' Church, North Stoneham

St. Nicolas' Church is an Anglican parish church at North Stoneham, Hampshire which originated before the 15th century and is known for its "One Hand Clock" which dates from the early 17th century, and also for various memorials to the famous.-Location:...

 at North Stoneham

North Stoneham

North Stoneham is a settlement and ecclesiastical parish in south Hampshire, England. It was formerly an ancient estate and manor. Until the nineteenth century, it was a rural community comprising a number of scattered hamlets, including Middle Stoneham, North End, and Bassett Green, and...

 near Eastleigh

Eastleigh

Eastleigh is a railway town in Hampshire, England, and the main town in the Eastleigh borough which is part of Southampton Urban Area. The town lies between Southampton and Winchester, and is part of the South Hampshire conurbation...

.