HMS Edgar ( 1779 ) HMS " Edgar " was a 74 - gun third - rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy , that saw service in the American Revolutionary , French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . Launched in 1779 , she fought in the battles of Cape St Vincent ( in 1780 ) and Copenhagen ( in 1801 ) — two of the major naval engagements of the wars . " Edgar " also saw service as flagship to two different admirals , and was even the scene of a mutiny in 1808 . After the end of her active career , she was employed as a prison ship before her 56 - year life came to an end in 1835 , when she was ordered to be broken up . Construction . " Edgar " was ordered from Woolwich Dockyard on 25 August 1774 to be built to slightly modified lines of the , which had been designed by Sir Thomas Slade . The " Arrogant " class of third rates was a development over Slade ' s previous , and a further nine ships were ordered from various yards — both Royal and commercial — to the same lines as " Edgar " . Originally , the Admiralty had intended to order her to be built to the lines of Sir John Williams ' , specifically . Her keel was laid down on 26 August 1776 , and she was launched on 30 June 1779 . A list composed in or around 1793 , giving details of twelve Royal Navy ships , reveals that " Edgar " possessed a white figurehead , with details painted in red and black . Of the other eleven ships mentioned , seven had the plain white figureheads as completed by the dockyards , whilst four had painted theirs with a larger palette since being launched . American Revolutionary War . " Edgar " was launched when Britain was embroiled in the American Revolutionary War . She commissioned under her first captain , John Elliot , in May 1779 , while her first action came on 16 January 1780 , when she fought in the Battle of Cape St Vincent as part of Admiral Sir George Rodney ' s fleet . After a two - hour chase , " Edgar " was one of the first ships to engage the numerically inferior Spanish fleet . In November 1781 , the Admiralty had received intelligence that a large convoy was preparing to sail from Brest under Admiral de Guichen . It was a convoy of transports carrying naval supplies for the West Indies and the French fleet in the East Indies . " Edgar " was part of Admiral Richard Kempenfelt ' s squadron of 18 ships ( 11 of which mounted 64 or more guns ) , which he commanded from . Kempenfelt was ordered to intercept the convoy , which he did in the afternoon of 12 December in the Bay of Biscay , approximately south - west of Ushant . With the French naval escort to leeward of the convoy , Kempenfelt attacked immediately , capturing 15 of the transports before nightfall . The rest of the convoy scattered , most returning to Brest ; only five transports reached the West Indies . Her second major action came on 20 October 1782 when she was part of Admiral Richard Howe ' s fleet of 35 ships of the line at the Battle of Cape Spartel . The fleet had encountered the combined Franco - Spanish fleet of 46 ships of the line under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova , and some exchange of fire took place before Admiral Howe ordered a retreat . " Edgar " spent the remainder of the war in the Channel Fleet under Admiral George Darby . Between the wars . After the conclusion of the war in 1783 , " Edgar " was fitted for service as a guardship in Portsmouth Harbour . In 1787 Captain Charles Thompson took command , and in spring 1788 she served as Rear - Admiral John Leveson - Gower ' s flagship whilst he commanded his fleet of observation on its two - month cruise off the Irish coast and west of the Scilly Isles . At the end of this cruise , " Edgar " returned to Portsmouth where she resumed her role as guardship . " Edgar " was recommissioned in April 1791 and joined the home fleet . French Revolutionary War . After France ' s declaration of war against Great Britain brought the country into the French Revolutionary War in 1793 , " Edgar " , under the command of Captain Bertie , was part of the squadron commanded by Admiral John Gell which in April escorted the Spanish ship " St Jago " back to Portsmouth , after they had captured her from the French . The ownership of the Spanish ship was a matter of some debate and was not settled until 4 February 1795 , when the value of the cargo was put at £935 , 000 . At this time all the crew , captains , officers and admirals received a share of the prize money , with Admiral Hood ' s share standing at £50 , 000 . Besides " Edgar " , the ships that conveyed " St Jago " to Portsmouth were His Majesty ' s Ships , , and . In 1794 the crew of rose up in mutiny whilst the ship lay in Leith Roads . " Edgar " was ordered alongside " Defiance " , and if it were deemed necessary to restore order , to engage her . A comment left by one of " Edgar " s crew suggests that had the order been given to fire , it would not have been obeyed , as the crew thought that the mutineers aboard " Defiance " were in the right . In 1800 " Edgar " was part of the Channel Fleet under Admiral Sir Alan Gardner blockading the important French port of Brest . She was forced to return to Plymouth on 18 February after sustaining damage to her mainmast , and after repairs sailed from Plymouth with , rejoining the Fleet on 13 May . " Edgar " was driven from her station on blockade duty on 9 November by hurricane force winds , and again put in to Plymouth for repairs . On 28 February 1801 , Captain George Murray took over the command of " Edgar " , transferring from . On 2 April 1801 , " Edgar " took part in the Battle of Copenhagen . After passing down the Outer Channel in order to negotiate the southern tip of the Middle Ground shoal off the coast from Copenhagen , " Edgar " was leading Vice - Admiral Horatio Nelson ' s line , and was the first to commence firing , as soon as she was in range of the Danish " Prövesteen " . " Edgar " was forced to fight unsupported for some time , as the next ship in line , , had run aground on the poorly charted Middle Ground , requiring , the next in line after " Agamemnon " , to manoeuvre around the stranded ship . During the course of the battle , " Edgar " had 31 killed , including the First Lieutenant and three soldiers of the 49th Regiment , and 115 men were wounded . Napoleonic Wars . The Revolutionary War was brought to an end on 25 March 1802 with the Treaty of Amiens , and war gave way to a period of uneasy peace . In June 1802 " Edgar " was taken into Chatham for repairs . She was recommissioned in 1805 as part of the doubling and bracing programme , and served as Admiral Lord Keith ' s flagship off Texel , blockading the Dutch coast . " Edgar " , along with several other ships , was in the Downs on 17 December , when came in to shelter from gales that had blown up , hampering her progress to Chatham . " Victory " was returning to England after the Battle of Trafalgar , and on board was the body of the late Vice - Admiral Lord Nelson . On 28 March 1808 , there was an attempted mutiny on board whilst " Edgar " was lying in Cawsand Bay . The crew had all gathered on the quarter deck , but dispersed at the threat of a murderous volley from the ship ' s company of marines . Five men , including the captain of the main - top and the bosun ' s mate , were arrested and placed in irons . The five were tried for mutiny aboard in the Hamoaze on 9 and 11 April . All were found guilty , despite attempts by " Edgar " s petty officers to prove that they had been goaded into their actions by threats from the rest of the crew . Each of the men was sentenced to be flogged round the fleet , with the captain of the main - top , Henry Chesterfield , receiving a total of 700 lashes and two - years ' solitary confinement ; the bosun ' s mate , John Rowlands , received one - year ' s confinement and 300 lashes ; two of the remaining men received 200 lashes each , and one 500 lashes . Gunboat War . In May 1808 " Edgar " was one of the 12 ships of the line forming part of Vice - Admiral Sir James Saumarez ' s squadron sent to the Baltic after Denmark ' s declaration of war against Sweden . By this time , Sweden had allied herself with Britain , but both Denmark and Russia were allies of Buonaparte . Saumarez , who had his flag in " Victory " , was therefore tasked with keeping the Baltic open to British trade , and with promoting British interests in the region . The Gunboat War with Denmark lasted from 1807 until 1814 . When word of the uprising of the Spanish against the French in 1808 reached Denmark , some 12 , 000 Spanish troops stationed in Denmark and under the Marquis de la Romana decided that they wished to leave French service and return to Spain . The Marquis contacted Rear - Admiral Keats , on , who was in command of a small British squadron in the Kattegat . They agreed a plan and on 9 August 1808 the Spaniards seized the fort and town of Nyborg . Keats then prepared to take possession of the port and to organize the departure of the Spanish . Keats informed the Danish authorities that if they did not impede the operation he would spare the town . The Danes agreed , except for the captains of two small Danish warships in the harbour . On 11 August Keats sent in the boats from " Edgar " , under the command of her captain , James Macnamara . The boats captured the brig , of 18 guns and under the command of Otto Frederick Rasch , and the cutter " Søormen " , of 12 guns and under the command of Thøger Emil Rosenørn . Despite the odds Rasch and Rosenørn refused and put up a stiff resistance before they struck . British losses were an officer killed and two men wounded ; the Danes lost seven men killed and 13 wounded . In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp " 11 Aug . Boat Service 1808 " to all surviving claimants of the action . The British organized the evacuation of the Spanish troops using some 50 or so local boats . Some 10 , 000 troops returned to Spain via Britain . In early July 1810 " Edgar " , in company with and , sighted three Danish gunboats under the command of Lieutenant Peter Nicolay Skibsted , who had captured the in April of that year . The gunboats ( " Husaren " , " Løberen " , and " Flink " ) sought refuge in Grenå , on eastern Jutland , where a company of soldiers and their field guns could provide cover . However , the British mounted a cutting out expedition of some 200 men in ten ships ’ boats after midnight on 7 July , capturing the three gunboats . Fate . " Edgar " was laid up in ordinary at Chatham in 1811 . She underwent a conversion to serve as a prison hulk in 1813 , and was renamed " Retribution " in 1815 . She continued to serve in this role until 1835 , when the decision was taken to have her broken up .