HMS Hercules (1815)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Hercules.

History
UK
Name	HMS Hercules
Ordered	16 May 1809
Builder	Chatham dockyard
Laid down	August 1812
Launched	5 September 1815
Commissioned	March 1836
Fate	Sold out of the Service, 22 August 1865
General characteristics
Class and type	Vengeur-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1750 bm
Length	176 ft 1 in (53.67 m) (gundeck) 145 ft 1.75 in (44.2405 m) (keel)
Beam	47 ft 7.25 in (14.5098 m)
Depth of hold	21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full rigged ship
Armament	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 4 × 12 pdrs, 10 × 32 pdr carronades Forecastle: 2 × 12 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18 pdr carronades

HMS Hercules was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 5 September 1815 at Chatham.

On 26 December 1852 Hercules departed on her way to Hong Kong to take up duties as a hospital ship. The gold rushes had put a premium on passenger ships to Australia, so she took 756 Scots civilian passengers to South Australia and Victoria for the Highland and Island Emigration Society. Many of these were emigrating under duress from the trustees of the Boreraig, Suishnish and North Uist estates of Lord Macdonald. The voyage proved disastrous, beginning almost immediately with a horrific storm, during which the ship sought refuge at Rothesay. Soon after their second departure in early January 1853, outbreaks of smallpox and typhus were discovered, necessitating a three-month quarantine at Queenstown, County Cork. 56 people died, 17 orphaned children were returned home and many others were assigned to a dozen other ships, families being broken up in the process. The ship finally arrived in Adelaide in July 1853.

Later in 1853 Hercules was placed on harbour service. In 1854 she proceeded to Hong Kong to serve as a depot and receiving ship, and she was sold there on 22 August 1865 to be broken.

References

• Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
• Winfield, Rif (2008) British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4.