Spanish ship Monarca (1756)

For other ships with the same name, see Spanish ship Monarca (1794).

Plan of Monarca as captured
History
Spain
Name	Monarca
Ordered	27 March 1754
Builder	Naval dockyard, Ferrol
Laid down	1 April 1754
Launched	13 June 1756
Captured	16 January 1780, by Royal Navy
Notes	Participated in: Battle of Cape St Vincent
Great Britain
Name	HMS Monarca
Acquired	16 January 1780
Fate	Sold, 1791
Notes	Participated in: Battle of Cuddalore
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	68-gun third-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1911 bm
Length	174 ft 4+1⁄2 in (53.150 m) (gundeck)
Beam	40 ft 10 in (12.45 m)
Depth of hold	20 ft 7 in (6.27 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	68 guns of various weights of shot

Monarca was a 68-gun ship of the line of the Spanish Navy, ordered in 1754 to a design by expatriate British ship designer Richard Rooth and launched in 1756. She belonged to the four-ship Triunfante class.

She fought at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1780, in which she was captured by the Royal Navy and subsequently commissioned as the third rate HMS Monarca. She came under the command of Captain John Gell who was under the orders of Sir Samuel Hood to go to the West Indies. However, she was dismasted in a storm and obliged to return to Britain for refitting.^[2]

She fought at the Battle of Cuddalore in 1783 and was sold out of the navy in 1791.

Notes

1. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1. p182.
2. Hopton Catalogue, Wirksworth.org

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; Tredrea, John M; García-Torralba Pérez, Enrique; Blasco Felip, Manuel (2023). Spanish Warships in the Age of Sail 1700—1860: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-5267-9078-1.

External links

• Media related to Monarca (ship, 1756) at Wikimedia Commons