{|    |} hms duke of wellington was a 131-gun first-rate ship of the line of the royal navy. launched in 1852, she was symptomatic of an era of rapid technological change in the navy, being powered both by sail and steam. an early steam-powered ship, she was still fitted with towering masts and trim square-set yards, and was the flagship of sir charles napier. ==design and construction== first christened hms windsor castle, she was the first of a class of four that represented the ultimate development of the wooden three-decker ship of the line which had been the mainstay capital ship in naval warfare for 200 years. she was originally ordered in 1841 to a design of sir william symonds, the surveyor of the navy, but was not laid down until may 1849 at pembroke dock by which time symonds had resigned and the design had been modified by the assistant surveyor john edye. at this stage the ship was still intended as a sailing vessel. although the royal navy had been using steam power in smaller ships for three decades, it had not been adopted for ships of the l
1852_ships Crimean_War_naval_ships_of_the_United_Kingdom Royal_Navy_ship_names Ships_of_the_line_of_the_Royal_Navy Victorian-era_ships_of_the_line_of_the_United_Kingdom