HMS Royal Sovereign (1786)

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HMS Royal Sovereign (1786) was a 100-gun 1st rate ship of the line which served as the flagship of Admiral Collingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar. She was the third of seven Royal Navy ships to bear this name.

The first ship of the fleet in action at Trafalgar, she led one column of warships; Nelson's Victory led the other. Due to the re-coppering of her hull prior to her arrival off Cadiz 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 flagship Santa Anna, 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, "What would Nelson give to be here?"

Although pounded nearly to a wreck by the Spanish fleet, she forced Santa Anna to surrender and was herself rescued by the arrival of the rest of her column. She survived the battle, and was finally broken up in 1841.

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