HMS Royal Sovereign ( 1786 ) HMS " Royal Sovereign " was a 100 - gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy , which served as the flagship of Admiral Collingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar . She was the third of seven Royal Navy ships to bear the name . Designed by Sir Edward Hunt , she was launched at Plymouth Dockyard on 11 September 1786 , at a cost of £67 , 458 , and was the only ship built to her draught . She was known by her crew as the " West Country Wagon " due to her poor manoeuvrability and speed . In service . " Royal Sovereign " was part of Admiral Howe ' s fleet at the Glorious First of June , where she suffered 14 killed and 41 wounded . On 16 June 1795 , as the flagship of Vice - Admiral William Cornwallis , she was involved in the celebrated episode known as ' Cornwallis ' Retreat ' . Trafalgar . The first ship of the fleet in action at Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 , she led one column of warship s ; Nelson ' s " Victory " led the other . Due to the re - coppering of her hull prior to her arrival off Cádiz , " Royal Sovereign " was a considerably better sailer in the light winds present that day than other vessels , and pulled well ahead of the rest of the fleet . As she cut the enemy line alone and engaged the Spanish three decker " Santa Ana " , Nelson pointed to her and said , ' See how that noble fellow Collingwood carries his ship into action ! ' At approximately the same moment , Collingwood remarked to his captain , Edward Rotheram , ' What would Nelson give to be here ? ' " Royal Sovereign " and " Santa Ana " duelled for much of the battle , with " Santa Ana " taking fire from fresh British ships passing through the line , including and , while nearby French and Spanish vessels fired on " Royal Sovereign " . " Santa Ana " struck at 14 : 15 , having suffered casualties numbering 238 dead and wounded after battling " Royal Sovereign " and . The " Royal Sovereign " lost her mizzen and mainmasts , her foremast was badly damaged and much of her rigging was shot away . At 2 . 20 pm " Santa Ana " finally struck to " Royal Sovereign " . Shortly afterwards a boat came from " Victory " carrying Lieutenant Hill , who reported that Nelson had been wounded . Realising that he might have to take command of the rest of the fleet and with his ship according to his report being " perfectly unmanegeable " , by 3 pm he signalled for the frigate to take " Royal Sovereign " in tow . " Euryalus " towed her round to support the rest of the British ships with her port - side guns , and became engaged with combined fleet ' s van under Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley , as it came about to support the collapsing centre . Fire from the lead ships shot away the cable between the " Royal Sovereign " and the " Euryalus " , and the latter ship made off towards " Victory " . " Royal Sovereign " exchanged fire with the arriving ships , until Collingwood rallied several relatively undamaged British ships around " Royal Sovereign " , and Dumanoir gave up any attempt to recover some of the prizes , and made his escape at 4 . 30pm . At 4 . 40 pm one of " Victory " s boats , carrying Captain Henry Blackwood and Lieutenant Hill came alongside and Blackwood reported Nelson ' s death to Collingwood . This left Collingwood in command of the fleet , and with a storm rising , and disregarding Nelson ' s final order to bring the fleet to anchor , Collingwood ordered Blackwood to hoist the signal to all ships to come to the wind on the starboard tack , and to take disabled and captured ships in tow . " Royal Sovereign " was by now almost or totally unmanageable and virtually uninhabitable . As she had most of her masts shot away she could not make signals . Having his ship too much disabled by enemy fire at just before of 6 pm Collingwood , who had succeeded Nelson in command of the fleet had to transfer himself and his flag to the frigate " Euryalus " , while " Euryalus " sent a cable across and took " Royal Sovereign " in tow for second time . At the end of the action Collingwood signalled from the frigate to the rest of the fleet to prepare to anchor . took over the tow on 22 October , and was replaced by on 23 October . " Royal Sovereign " lost one lieutenant , her master , one lieutenant of marines , two midshipman , 29 seamen and 13 marines killed , and two lieutenants , one lieutenant of marines , one master ' s mate , four midshipman , her boatswain , 69 seamen and 16 marines wounded . After Trafalgar . " Royal Sovereign " returned to duty in the Mediterranean the next year and remained on the blockade of Toulon until November 1811 , when she was ordered to return home to the Channel Fleet . After her useful active life she was converted to harbour service as a receiving ship at Plymouth before being renamed HMS " Captain " on 17 August 1825 . Hulked in June 1826 , " Captain " was finally broken up at Plymouth , with work being completed on 28 August 1841 . Four of her guns were saved and are incorporated in the Collingwood Memorial in Tynemouth .