HMS Windsor Castle was a 98-gun second 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...

, launched on 3 May 1790 at Deptford Dockyard.

Dardanelles

Windsor Castle was part of Robert Calder

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:...

's 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...

 in 1805. She shared in the prize and head money for the San Rafael and Firme captured on that day.

On 25 September a French squadron of five frigates and two corvettes under Commodore Eleonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil

Éléonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil

Éléonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil was a French Navy officer and captain.- Biography :Born to the family of a surgeon, Soleil started sailing on a merchantman in 1783. In 1785, he served in the French Royal Navy on a fluyt, before returning to merchant shipping.In August 1789, Soleil joined up as a...

 was escorting a convoy ferrying supplies and troops to the French West Indies

French West Indies

The term French West Indies or French Antilles refers to the seven territories currently under French sovereignty in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: the two overseas departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique, the two overseas collectivities of Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, plus...

. A British squadron intercepted the convoy, which led to the Action of 25 September 1806

Action of 25 September 1806

The Action of 25 September 1806 was a naval battle fought during the Napoleonic Wars off the French Biscay port of Rochefort. A French convoy of five frigates and two corvettes, sailing to the French West Indies with supplies and reinforcements, was intercepted by a British squadron of six ships of...

, where the British captured four of the frigates: Armeide, Minerva, Indefatigable, and Gloire. The frigate Thétis

French frigate Thétis (1788)

Thétis was a 40-gun Nymphe-class frigate frigate of the French Navy.From 1790, she served in various diplomatic missions in the Indian Ocean, before returning for a refit in Brest in 1793. From 1795, she was shuttled from France to Guadeloupe...

 and the corvette Sylphe

French corvette Sylphe (1804)

Sylphe was ar Abeille class 16-gun brig of the French Navy.She took part in Allemand's expedition of 1805 under commander Langlois, capturing the merchantman Brothers...

 escaped, with the Lynx managing to outrun Windsor Castle.

While in the Mediterranean she served during Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

 Sir John Duckworth's unsuccessful 1807 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 ....

. On 19 February, Windsor Castle suffered seven men wounded while forcing the Dardanelles. Near a redoubt on Point Pesquies the British encountered a Turkish squadron of one ship of 64 guns, four frigates and eight other vessels, most of which they ran aground. Marines from Pompee spiked the 31 guns on the redoubt. On 27 February Windsor Castle had one man killed assisting a Royal Marine landing party on the island of Prota.

On the way out, the Turkish castle at Abydos fired on the British squadron. Granite cannon balls weighing 7-800 pounds and measuring 6'6" in circumference hit Windsor Castle, and . Windsor Castle was badly damaged when an 800 pound stone shot from a Turkish cannon sheared off her main mast. Windsor Castle had four men killed and 20 wounded in the withdrawal. In all, the British lost 29 killed and 138 wounded. No ship was lost.

Windsor Castle accompanied Duckworth on the Alexandria expedition of 1807, and in May left Alexandria and sailed to Malta.