HMS Monarch ( 1747 ) HMS " Monarch was a 74 - gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy . She had previously served in the French Navy under the name Monarque " . " Monarque " was built during the War of the Austrian Succession , but lasted less than a year in French service . She was captured by the British just three months after being completed , one of several prizes taken by Sir Edward Hawke ' s fleet at the Battle of Cape Finisterre . Brought into the Royal Navy , she was used for the rest of the War of the Austrian Succession as a guardship and to carry troops . She saw service during the Seven Years ' War , forming part of fleets sent to North America and the Mediterranean under Hawke , Boscawen and Osborn , and being commanded at one stage by future admiral George Rodney . " Monarch " was the scene of the execution of Admiral Sir John Byng , who had been sentenced to death for failing to do his utmost during the Battle of Minorca , and was shot on " Monarch " s quarterdeck on 14 March 1757 . " Monarch " went out to the Mediterranean during the last years of the Seven Years ' War , and played a role in the British victory at the Battle of Cartagena . She returned home and was reduced to harbour service , and was finally sold for breaking up in 1760 . Construction and capture . " Monarque " was laid down at Brest on January 1745 , and was built to a design by Blaise Ollivier . On Ollivier ' s death in October 1746 , work on the ship was completed by Luc Coulomb . She was launched in March 1747 , and was completed by July that year . Her career with the French was short - lived . She joined the fleet under Admiral Desherbiers de l ' Etenduère in October 1747 , with orders to escort a convoy across the Atlantic . The French were brought to battle off Cape Finisterre by a fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Hawke , and " Monarque " was one of the ships captured in the resulting defeat for the French , at the Battle of Cape Finisterre . British career . " Monarque " was towed into Portsmouth and was surveyed there in July 1748 . The Navy Board authorised her purchase for the navy on 30 September 1748 , paying the sum of £17 , 555 . 16 . 8d , having deducted a sum for repairs . A small repair was carried out and she was fitted for service between December 1748 and March 1749 . " Monarch " commissioned for service in December 1748 under the command of Captain Robert Harland , and became the guardship at Portsmouth . She passed to Captain John Amherst in 1751 , still serving as the Portsmouth guardship , but returned to sea later that year to carry troops to Minorca . She was paid off in November 1752 , and fitted for continued service as a guardship the following year . She recommissioned as the Portsmouth guardship in January 1753 under Captain Roger Martin , and was again involved in trooping duties , this time Gibraltar in 1754 . She passed under Captain Henry Harrison in 1754 , followed by Captain Abraham North in 1755 . " Monarch " became the flagship of Rear - Admiral Savage Mostyn , and sailed for North America in April 1755 . " Monarch " joined Vice - Admiral Edward Boscawen ' s squadron in North America , with Captain North being succeeded by Captain George Rodney in 1756 . " Monarch " joined Henry Osborn ' s fleet in January 1756 , and served with Sir Edward Hawke from March that year . By 1757 she was back in Portsmouth , during the court martial of Admiral Sir John Byng . Byng ' s execution . Admiral Byng had commanded the British fleet sent to relieve Minorca in 1756 , but after a brief and indecisive engagement at the Battle of Minorca , he drew off and allowed the island to fall to the French . Incensed , the British public demanded an investigation . Byng was arrested , and tried by court martial for having breached the Articles of War . Though Byng was acquitted of cowardice or disaffection , he was found guilty of failing to do his utmost , which carried a mandatory death sentence . Byng was brought aboard " Monarch " , which by then was anchored at Portsmouth under Captain John Montagu . Montagu recorded in the ship ' s log for 14 March 1757 : These 24 hours very squally , with showers of wind and rain ; Admiral Byng ' s Co . as before ; at 7 A . M . his Coffin came on board ; at 10 A . M . all the Ships ' Boats , manned and armed , came to attend his Execution ; hard gales , lowered down the lower yards : at noon all hands were called up to attend his execution ; he was shot on the larboard side of the Quarter Deck by six Marines , attended by Lieut . Clark , the Marshal , and Mr . Muckings ; these gentlemen went ashore after the execution was over . Action with the French . " Monarch " went out to the Mediterranean in May 1757 , and joined Henry Osborn ' s fleet . She was present with the fleet at the Battle of Cartagena on 28 February 1758 , where Osborn defeated an attempt by a French squadron under Michel - Ange Duquesne de Menneville to relieve the French fleet under Jean - François de La Clue - Sabran which had been trapped in Cartagena . Together " Monarch " and drove ashore the 64 - gun " Oriflamme " . " Monarch " was recommissioned in July 1759 under Captain Lachlin Leslie , but spent her time on harbour service and was paid off in September 1760 . She was surveyed on 24 October 1760 , but was not repaired and instead was sold at Woolwich on 25 November that year for the sum of £1 , 065 .