Spanish ship San Juan Nepomuceno San Juan Nepomuceno was a Spanish ship of the line launched in 1765 from the royal shipyard in Guarnizo ( Cantabria ) . Like many 18th Century Spanish warships she was named after a saint ( John of Nepomuk ) . She was a solidly built ship of proven seaworthy qualities . Her sister - ships were " San Pascual " , " San Francisco de Asis " , " San Lorenzo " , " Santo Domingo " and " San Agustín " . She was originally fitted with a total of 74 cannons : 28 24 - pounders , 30 18 - pounders , 8 12 - pounders and 8 8 - pounders , and was manned by 8 officers , 11 midshipmen , 19 leading seamen and 492 able seamen ( 530 total ) . Her supply capacity was for 60 days victuals and 80 days water . She rendered numerous important services to the Armada ( fleet ) , some of them in the Caribbean where she participated in several sieges and was distinguished in 1779 . In 1793 , she took part in the Anglo - Spanish occupation of Toulon under the command of Admiral Don Juan de Lángara . Four years later , in 1797 , she was part of a Spanish fleet under Teniente General José de Córdoba y Ramos that fought against the British at the Battle of Cape St . Vincent . Battle of Trafalgar . The Battle of Trafalgar is the historical feat in which she participated and of which we have the best account . In spite of being dismasted by Admiral Nelson ' s artillery on 21 October 1805 , she achieved glory in this battle under the command of the famous Brigadier Don Cosme Damian Churruca and constituted for the Spaniards a handsome example of the heroism of their nation and the bravery of their sailors . The " San Juan Nepomuceno " was one of the last ships still fighting after most of the French ships had surrendered and most of the Spanish ships had either been captured or had yielded . The commander , Don Cosme Churruca , had previously ordered for the flag to be nailed to the highest mast . At the time , it was commonplace for ships to signal surrender by lowering their nation ' s flag . ' Nailing the flag ' was a way to tell the enemy , allies , and indeed the ship ' s own crew and officers not to expect an easy surrender . As the hours passed , the wounded Admiral Nelson continued to direct the battle , while the Brigadier Churruca , whose leg had been torn off by a cannonball , the deck of his ship covered by the blood of his wounded and dead seamen , continued to stubbornly order his ship ' s batteries to fire . Mortally wounded , the Basque - born Churruca prohibited his officers from surrendering and ordered them to continue returning fire whilst he remained breathing . His officers kept their word , even after Churruca died and command of the ship had been passed to Francisco de Moyna ( second - in - command ) , who continued the fight until he himself was killed , replaced by the next officer in command who also refused to surrender ( he later fell under musket fire and was replaced by yet another officer ) . However , unable to break the circle of fire formed by the six enemy ships , which counted among others with the famous " Defiance " , " Tonnant " and " Dreadnought " , and in order to prevent the ship from sinking with all the wounded trapped below , the last officer left alive on the " San Juan Nepomuceno " yielded with over 400 dead and injured on board . The British obtained a brilliant victory but paid a high price in lives . Royal Navy Service ( HMS San Juan ) . After Trafalgar , the ship was taken into British service and briefly renamed HMS Berwick before adopting the name HMS " San Juan " . In honour of Churruca ' s courage , the cabin he had occupied while alive bore his name on a brass plate , and all who entered it were required to remove their hats as a mark of respect for a gallant enemy . She initially served as a base hulk at Gibraltar from 1805 to 1808 before being recommissioned in September 1808 as a Prison Ship under Commander John Gourly . During the Peninsular War the San Juan was fitted to act as Flagship to a flotilla of gunboat s based in Gibraltar . For this task she was re - rated as a sloop and placed under the command of Commander Thomas Vivion , who was the first flotilla commander , taking post in 1810 . He was followed subsequently by Commander James Tillard who took command in 1812 . The Commander had a total of fourteen Lieutenants under his command , each of whom took charge of one of the gunboats in the flotilla . As the gunboats had little capacity for accommodation , the Lieutenants were assigned to , and lived aboard the San Juan . In later service the San Juan acted as Flagship to the Admirals appointed as Commander - in - chief Gibraltar . In 1813 she was Flagship to Rear Admiral Samuel Hood Linzee with Captain John Fraser acting as Flag Captain . In 1814 she was Flagship to Rear Admiral Charles Elphinstone Fleeming with Captain Gardiner Henry Guion acting as Flag Captain . Her final commission began in October 1814 when she reverted to her original role as a base hulk under the command of Lieutenant Charles M ' Kenzie . The San Juan was finally paid off and sold at Gibraltar on 8 January 1816 . The ship is memorialised today as a popular wooden kit by Spanish model company Artesania Latina and can be seen at www . sanjuannepomuceno . co . uk