Mars, 1848
Type: 2nd rate ; Armament 80
Launched : 1 Jul 1848 ; Disposal date or year : 1929
BM: 2576 tons ; Displacement: 3482 tons
Propulsion: Sail - Screw
Machinery notes: 400
Notes:

Jan, 1846, Mars, 80. Sir W. Symonds, one-fourth built, at Chatham

Jan 1848 Chatham, Building

1 Jul 1848 Launching ceremony - see below for newspaper report.

20 Dec 1848 Chatham.

1855 screw.

1860 Mediterranean

1869 lent as Training Ship on the Tay to an Association at Dundee (Navy List - Aug 1914)

1870 Training Ship on the Tay

1879 Late Screw. Training Ship on the Tay

1890 Training Ship on the Tay

Launch of the Mars, Line-of-Battle Ship, Chatham, Saturday Afternoon Since the launch of the Trafalgar at Woolwich no similar ceremony has excited so much attention amongst the members of the naval service as the launching of the Mars, line-of-battle ship, 82 guns, at the Royal Dockyard of this town to-day. Being the last ship of the line designed by Sir W. Symonds, the late surveyor of the navy, and the fact of the Lords of the Admiralty having intimated their intention of being present, gave to it more than ordinary importance. We may here state that the keel of the Mars was laid down in 1840, and her dimensions are of the following extent :-

Length of gun. deck 190 feet ;
extreme breadth 56 feet 9½ inches;
depth of hold 22 feet 4 inches;
burthen in tons 2256 ;
pierced for 82 guns.

At sunrise all her Majesty's ships of war moored off the dockyard the Poictiers, 70, flag-ship, hoisting the signal to dress ships - were gaily decorated with the several national and signal flags. At half-past ten o'clock the gates of the yard were thrown open for the admission of such of the public as possessed tickets.

Shortly after 12 o'clock the Lords of the Admiralty arrived. On landing they were received by Sir Thomas Bourchier, captain-superintendent of the yard, Vice-Admiral Elliott, of the royal Yard at Sheerness, and Sir Gordon Bremer, the captain-superintendent of the Woolwich royal dockyard. At twenty minutes to one o'clock high water was announced. Sir Thomas Bourchier was then seen leading Miss Hood, the grand-daughter of the late Captain Alexander Hood - who commanded the ship Mars in 1798, and who gloriously fell in action while engaged with the French ship Hercules, of eighty guns, off the Penmarks - to the bow of the vessel ; she dashed the bottle against the ship, and proclaimed her name "Mars."

The next moment the huge vessel was moving, and the united bands playing "Rule Britannia," she glided into the Medway in majestic style. She bore the royal ensign at the main, the Admiralty at the stern, and the union jack at the fore. After the ceremony, the Lords of the Admiralty, with the elite of the company, repaired to the captain-superintendent's residence, and partook of a sumptuous dejeuner. Amongst the personages present were his Royal Highness the Prince de Joinville, M. Guizot, Mr. Bancroft, (the American Minister), Count de Jarnac, Captain and Miss Eden, Captain and Miss Charlotte Berkeley, Sir Thomas and Lady Thompson, and upwards of 100 officers and ladies connected with the garrison. At the close of the entertainment, the Earl of Auckland, with the junior lords of the Admiralty, and Mr. Ward, made an official inspection of the depot, and at a quarter to two o'clock, the Black Eagle having in the mean time steamed round from Gravesend, they embarked on board of her and returned to London.- Morning Chronicle, July 3, [1848]