Naval Database

Vanguard, 1787
Type: 3rd rate ; Armament 74 (28 × 32pdr ; 30 × 24pdr ; 16 × 9pdr)
Launched : 1787 ; Disposal date or year : 1821
BM: 1609 tons
Complement: 589
Notes:

27 Oct 1793, joined the Channel Fleet and sailed in search of the French fleet and squadrons. 18 Nov brief skirmish with a French squadron : by mid-December the fleet had returned to Spithead.

5 Jun - 3 Jul 1794 the arrival of a French squadron in the resulted in a number of movements and operations by the ships Boyne, Veteran, Winchelsea, Nautilus, Vanguard, Vengeance, Solebay and Winchelsea.

2 May 1798 Nelson in the Vanguard sailed from off Cadiz for Gibraltar, departing that place on the 9th for the east, accompanied by the Alexander, Orion, Emerald, Terpsichore, and Bonne-Citoyenne.

5 Jun 1798 Mutine joined Nelson with news that 10 sail of the line was on its way to join his squadron. They arrived on the 7 Jun.

7 Jun 1798 the search for the French fleet.

1 Aug 1798 the preparation for the Battle of the Nile.

1 Aug 1798 Battle of the Nile.

13 Aug 1798 Captain Thomas Masterman Hardy appointed in command.

19 Aug 1798 R.-adm Nelson, in the Vanguard, accompanied by the Culloden and Alexander, leave Aboukir Bay for Naples.

24 Oct 1798 Nelson, with the Vanguard and Minotaur joined the combined squadron of Portuguese and British ships under the Marquess de Niza and Captain Ball of the Alexander in the blockade of Malta.

21 Dec 1798 Nelson, with the Vanguard, sailed from Rome with the royal family for Palermo in Sicily.

12 May 1799 at Palermo.

13 Jun-mid Aug 1799 sailed from off Palermo for a cruise, arriving Naples 24th, where crews were involved in operations ashore.

30 Jun 1803, captured the French 40-gun frigate Créole, which was purchased into the Service, however, she foundered on her passage to England.

24 Jul - 2 Sep 1803 chase and capture of the French 74 Duquesne, and the escape of the Duguay-Trouin, 74 and the 40-gun frigate Guerrière.

May 1805 Jamaica Station.

26 Jul 1807 sailed as a part of a fleet of 38 vessels for Copenhagen and was present from 15 Aug - 20 Oct for the siege and bombardment of Copenhagen and capture of Danish Fleet by Adm. Gambier. 1 Aug employed in the Great Belt, preventing Danish troops crossing to Zealand. The winter was not, however, the period for active operations ; and the Vanguard 74, with a few frigates and smaller vessels, was all the British force left cruising in the Belt.

May - Oct 1808 in the Baltic with a fleet under V.-adm Sir J Saumarez.

Deal 26 Feb 1811 Sailed for Sheerness.

Deal 12 Sep 1811 Arrived, from the Baltic.

Deal 23 Sep 1811 Sailed for Plymouth.

Deal 27 Sep 1811 Arrived from the westward.

Deal 29 Sep 1811 Sailed for Portsmouth.

Portsmouth 1 Oct 1811 Arrived from the Downs.

Plymouth Dock 9 Oct 1811 Came in from Cawsand Bay to Hamoaze.