Spanish ship Neptuno ( 1795 ) Neptuno was an 80 - gun " Montañes " - class ship of the line of the Spanish Navy . She was built in 1795 and took part in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . She fought with the Franco - Spanish fleet in the battle of Trafalgar , and was wrecked in its aftermath . " Neptuno " was built at Ferrol and launched in 1795 . She entered service in time to support an attempt to unite with a French force and land troops in England , but the Spanish fleet under Admiral José de Córdoba y Ramos was intercepted and engaged by a British fleet under Sir John Jervis . " Neptuno " did not take part in the battle , having been sent into port beforehand . Several years later she was in a Spanish port when the combined Franco - Spanish fleet under Vice - Admiral Pierre - Charles Villeneuve arrived , having sailed to the West Indies and back , and been engaged by a British fleet in the Battle of Cape Finisterre . " Neptuno " joined the fleet in her attempt to reach Brest , but the plan to join with another French fleet failed and " Neptuno " ended up with the rest of the fleet , blockaded in Cadiz by a British fleet under Lord Nelson . Villeneuve came out of Cadiz in late 1805 , and was engaged by Nelson in the decisive Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October . As the lead ship of the line , " Neptuno " was initially isolated from the main fighting , though she joined in an attempt later in the day to come to the aid of Villeneuve ' s flagship . Instead she became trapped and engaged by two British ships and , after fighting for over an hour , surrendered . She was taken in hand by a British prize crew , but two days after the battle a sortie by some of the survivors from the battle succeeded in retaking her . She was towed towards a friendly port but , already badly damaged in the battle , was caught up in the powerful storm that struck the area and ran aground . Her crew were evacuated , and " Neptuno " broke up in the heavy seas . Construction and commissioning . " Neptuno " was built at the Royal Dockyard at Ferrol as one of the " Montañes " - class of 74 - and 80 - gun ships of the line , a design developed by Romero Landa and based on his earlier " San Ildefonso class " of 1785 . Among her sisters were the " Argonauta " and " Monarca " , both of which fought alongside " Neptuno " at Trafalgar . She carried twenty - eight 24 - pounder guns on her lower gundeck , thirty 18 - pounders on her upper deck , fourteen 8 - pounders on her quarter deck and four 8 - pounders on her forecastle . By 1805 she had been fitted with four 18 pounder carronade s on her poop , while the 18 pounders on her upper deck had been replaced by 24 pounders . Overall work on the ships of the " Montañes " class was overseen by Julién de Retamosa , and " Neptuno " was launched at Ferrol in 1795 . There then followed a period of fitting out and carrying out sea trials during 1796 , after which she was assigned to the Spanish Mediterranean fleet at Cartagena under Admiral José de Córdoba y Ramos . Shortly afterwards Spain allied with Republican France and entered the French Revolutionary Wars against Britain and her allies . The Spanish Navy was assigned to support the planned invasion of Britain . Alliance with France . " Neptuno " put to sea on 1 February 1797 with the rest of Córdoba ' s fleet , consisting of 27 ships of the line , twelve frigates , one brig and several smaller craft . They sailed from Cartagena and passed through the Strait of Gibraltar on 5 February . Córdoba had orders to deliver a number of gunboats to Algeciras to support the bombardment of Gibraltar , safely escort a convoy of four urcas carrying mercury from Malaga to Cadiz , and then sail to Brest to link up with the French . The first part of the operation went smoothly , and " Neptuno " was detached with the 74 - gun ships " Bahama " and " Terrible " , the 34 - gun " Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe " to take the gunboats into Algeciras . " Neptuno " and " Bahama " remained at Algeciras , while " Terrible " sailed to rejoin Córdoba . Strong easterly winds prevented Córdoba from making port at Cadiz , and his ships were scattered to the west , before they could make sail back to the Spanish coast . As they approached Cadiz on 14 February his fleet was tracked down off Cape St Vincent by a British force under Sir John Jervis . " Neptuno " and her consorts took no part in the action that followed , during which the Spanish were defeated . Approach to Trafalgar . By 1805 " Neptuno " was based at Ferrol , under the command of Captain Don Cayetano Valdés y Flores . There she was joined in late July by ships of the combined Franco - Spanish fleet under Vice - Admiral Pierre - Charles Villeneuve . The combined fleet had recently arrived in European waters from the West Indies , where they had evaded a British fleet under Lord Nelson , but had failed to carry out any attacks on the British colonies in the Caribbean . The fleet , hotly pursued across the Atlantic by Nelson , had been intercepted by another fleet under Robert Calder that had been positioned off Cape Finisterre in expectation of their arrival . Calder captured two of Villeneuve ' s ships in a confused action , after which Villeneuve withdrew to Ferrol and Corunna . He sailed again on 9 August , taking the Spanish ships he had found in those ports , including " Neptuno " , with him , hoping to rendezvous with the French Rochefort squadron under Zacharie Allemand . The hoped - for rendezvous failed : the two French fleets supposedly mistook each other for the main British fleet and , instead of joining , attempted to escape from each other , with Villeneuve fleeing to Cádiz . After spending several months there , watched by the blockading British fleet under Nelson , Villeneuve decided to put to sea in mid - October . Valdés prepared " Neptuno " for sea , and the fleet sailed from Cadiz on 19 October . " Neptuno " was initially the rearmost ship of the combined fleet as it sailed southwards , but as the British approached on the morning of 21 October , Villeneuve formed the line of battle and ordered it to come about heading northwards , with " Neptuno " now the lead ship of the van . She was ahead of the 74 - gun French " Scipion " , and formed part of the squadron under Rear - Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley , which had previously been intended as the rear of the fleet . Trafalgar . Initially isolated by the British strike at the centre and rear of the combined fleet ' s line , " Neptuno " was ordered to hug the wind to allow the other ships to get to their stations . " Neptuno " was fired upon by the 64 - gun , which had arrived late to the battle and sailed southwards parallel down the line , exchanging broadsides with the ships of the fleet . " Africa " s long range fire caused little damage . At 2 pm Dumanoir brought the van around and headed south to support the beleaguered centre , trying to fight his way through to Villeneuve ' s flagship , the 80 - gun " Bucentaure " . With Dumanoir in the attempt were " Neptuno " and four French ships , the 80 - gun " Formidable " , and the 74 - gun ships " Scipion " , " Duguay - Trouin " and the " Mont - Blanc " . " Neptuno " fought her way through to " Bucentaure " , with Valdés hoping to use her boats to recapture the flagship . The plan came to nothing when he discovered the boats had been destroyed by gunfire . " Neptuno " herself was soon in trouble ; at 4 pm she was cut off by the two rear - most ships of Nelson ' s weather column , the newly arrived 74 - gun ships and . " Neptuno " fought both of them for the next hour , having her mizzen mast shot away , and her rigging badly damaged . Valdés , who had already been wounded twice during the battle , was hit in the head and neck by falling debris from the collapsing mizzenmast and lost consciousness . He was taken below to be treated , and command devolved to his second , Joaquín Somoza . After an hour of fighting " Neptuno " lost her fore topmast , the foretop , foreyard and foreshrouds , followed by her main topmast and the main stay . Valdés ' successor , Somoza , was also wounded , and First Lieutenant Antonio Miranda took command . " Neptuno " struck her colours at 5 . 10 pm , becoming the last of the combined fleet to surrender . Accounts of her casualties vary but they appear to have been relatively light , with 38 to 42 dead and 42 to 47 wounded . She had by now been isolated from the rest of the fleet , and may have surrendered due to declining morale as a result . The British had been aiming high , in order to disable " Neptuno " and prevent her from escaping . A boarding party of 48 men from " Minotaur " , led by Marine Second Lieutenant Thomas Reeves arrived on board to take " Neptuno " s surrender . Valdés was undergoing treatment in the cockpit , so First Lieutenant Antonio Miranda went aboard " Minotaur " and submitted his sword to her captain , Charles Mansfield . Reeves took of a lieutenant and twenty - five men out of " Neptuno " and sent them to " Minotaur " , secured the prisoners aboard " Neptuno " , locked away the firearms , and placed a guard on the magazine . Storm , and wreck . " Minotaur " took " Neptuno " in tow at 3 . 30 am the next day , and at daylight work began to clear away the wreckage of battle . As the storm rose , the towline snapped , putting " Neptuno " in danger of running onto a lee shore and being wrecked . The battered mainmast collapsed on 22 October , smashing through the captain ' s cabins below the poop , crushing to death Spanish paymaster Diego de Soto as he slept , and killing one of the British prize crew . Now completely dismasted the crew struggled to shore up the decks to prevent them from collapsing , and tried to jury rig sails . On 23 October French Captain Julien Cosmao made a sortie from Cadiz with some of the more seaworthy ships that had escaped the battle , in an attempt to retake some of the captured prizes . Cosmao ' s squadron consisted of two French 80 - gun ships , " Neptune " and " Indomptable " , the 74 - gun French " Pluton " , and two Spanish ships , the 100 - gun " Rayo " and the 74 - gun " San Francisco de Asis " . Also with the ships of the line were the smaller French ships that had been present at the battle but had not taken part , the frigates " Cornélie " , " Thémis " , " Hortense " , " Rhin " and " Hermione " , and the brigs " Furet " and " Argus " . In preparation for the counter - attack the British cast off several of the prizes and formed a defensive line . While " Cornélie " , " Hortense " , " Thémis " and " Rhin " harassed the British , " Hermione " took " Neptuno " in tow , while the Spanish crew rose up and took back their ship . The British prize crew were sent below to work the pumps , while " Neptuno " made anchor in Cadiz Bay . During the night the storm rose again , and " Neptuno " dragged her anchors and ran onshore . Lines were quickly passed between the ship and shore , and rafts were constructed to take men off the stricken ship . One raft made several trips to and from the shore , until it capsized , drowning several men . Over the next few days the remaining men , including the wounded Captain Valdés , were taken off by rafts and fishing boats . The abandoned " Neptuno " was soon pounded to pieces in the heavy seas , with the loss of around 20 men in her wreck . " Neptuno " was not the only ship to suffer this fate , a number of the captured British prizes were scuttled or left to be wrecked , while several of the ships that had accompanied Cosmao ' s sortie were lost . The " Indomptable " was lost after she grounded off Rota , as was the " San Francisco de Asis " , in Cadiz Bay . The " Rayo " attempted to anchor off San Lucar and ride out the storm , but rolled out her masts in the heavy seas . came up , and being unable to resist , " Rayo " surrendered to her , but was driven on shore on 26 October and wrecked . Cosmao managed to retake only one other prize aside from " Neptuno " , the 112 - gun " Santa Ana " . Unlike " Neptuno " , the " Santa Ana " made it back to Cadiz . The remains of the French fleet were bottled up in Cadiz under Rear - Admiral Rosily , trapped there by the British blockade . The remaining ships were seized by the Spanish after they entered the war against France in 1808 . One of the French ships taken was the 80 - gun " Neptune " , which had fought at Trafalgar ; the Spanish took her into their service , renaming her " Neptuno " , as a replacement for the ship lost in 1805 . This new " Neptuno " served with the Spanish Navy until being broken up in 1820 .