View source for HMS Ajax (1798)

{{short description|British ship of the line (1801–1807)}}
{{Other ships|HMS Ajax}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Ajax (1798).jpg 
|Ship caption=Watercolour of HMS ''Ajax'', in the collections of the [[National Maritime Museum]]; no artist or date given
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=Great Britain
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Great Britain|naval}}
|Ship name=HMS ''Ajax''
|Ship ordered=30 April 1795
|Ship builder=[[John Randall (shipbuilder)|Randall]], [[Rotherhithe]]
|Ship laid down=September 1795
|Ship launched=3 March 1798
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=June 1798
|Ship honours=
*Finisterre<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=20939|startpage=238|date=26 January 1849}}</ref>
*[[Naval General Service Medal (1847)|Naval General Service Medal]] with clasps:
**"Egypt"<ref name=LG21077>{{London Gazette|issue=21077|pages=791–792|date=15 March 1850}}</ref>
**Trafalgar<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=20939|startpage=243|date=26 January 1849}}</ref>
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Accidentally burnt, 14 February 1807
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption={{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=39}}
|Ship class={{sclass|Ajax|ship of the line}}
|Ship tons burthen=1,943{{small|{{frac|46|94}}}} ([[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]])
|Ship length=*{{convert|182|ft|5|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (gundeck)
*{{convert|149|ft|10+5/8|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (keel)
|Ship beam={{convert|49|ft|6|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught=
|Ship hold depth={{convert|21|ft|3|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship sail plan=[[Full-rigged ship]]
|Ship propulsion=Sails
|Ship complement=
|Ship armament=*Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
*Upper gundeck: 30 × 24-pounder guns
*[[Quarterdeck|QD]]: 12 × 9-pounder guns
*[[Forecastle|Fc]]: 4 × 9-pounder guns
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''HMS ''Ajax''''' was an {{sclass|Ajax|ship of the line|0}} [[Seventy-four (ship)|74-gun]] [[third-rate]] [[ship of the line]] of the British [[Royal Navy]]. She was built by John Randall & Co of [[Rotherhithe]] and launched on the [[Thames]] on 3 March 1798. ''Ajax'' participated in the [[French Campaign in Egypt and Syria|Egyptian operation of 1801]], the [[Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805)|Battle of Cape Finisterre]] in 1805 and the [[Battle of Trafalgar]], before she was lost to a disastrous fire in 1807 during the [[Dardanelles Operation]].

==Egypt==
[[Captain (Royal Navy)|Captain]] [[James Hawkins-Whitshed|James Whitshed]] had been in charge of the vessel during her later construction stages from January 1798, but she was eventually commissioned in June 1798 under Captain [[John Holloway (Royal Navy officer)|John Holloway]].{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=39}} A month later command passed to Captain [[John Pakenham]], for Channel service.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=39}} After a brief spell under Captain John Osborn in April 1799, ''Ajax'' was placed in May 1799 under the command of Captain [[Alexander Cochrane]], who was to command her for two years.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=39}}

On 9 January 1800 she captured the French privateer ''Avantageux'' in the Channel.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=5 August 1800|issue=15282\Page=903}}</ref>

In 1801, Cochrane and ''Ajax'' participated in the Egyptian operations. On 31 January ''Ajax'' anchored at Marmorice on the coast of Karamania.

On 1 March, some 70 warships, together with transports carrying 16,000 troops, anchored in [[Abu Qir Bay|Aboukir Bay]] near [[Alexandria]]. Bad weather delayed disembarkation by a week, but on the 8th, Cochrane directed a landing by 320 boats, in double line abreast, which brought the troops ashore. French shore batteries opposed the landing, but the British were able to drive them back and by the next day [[Ralph Abercromby|Sir Ralph Abercromby's]] whole force was ashore.<ref>Allardyce (1882), p.257.</ref> ''Ajax'' had two of her seamen killed in the landings.

The naval vessels provided a force of 1,000 seamen to fight alongside the army, with [[Sidney Smith (Royal Navy officer)|Sir Sidney Smith]] of the 74-gun {{HMS|Tigre|1795|6}} in command. On 13 March, ''Ajax'' lost one man killed and two wounded in an action on shore; on 21 March she lost two killed and two wounded.

After the [[Battle of Alexandria (1801)|Battle of Alexandria]] and the subsequent [[Siege of Alexandria (1801)|siege]], Cochrane in ''Ajax'', with the [[sixth rate]]  {{HMS|Bonne Citoyenne|1796|6}}, [[Ship sloop|sloop]] {{HMS|Cynthia|1796|6}}, the brig-sloops {{HMS|Port Mahon|1798|6}} and {{HMS|Victorieuse}}, and three Turkish corvettes, were the first vessels to enter the harbour.<ref>{{London Gazette|pages=1371–1372|issue=15427|date=14 November 1801}}</ref>

Because ''Ajax'' had served in the Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] authorised in 1850 to all surviving claimants.<ref name=LG21077/>{{efn|A first-class share of the prize money awarded in April 1823 was worth [[£sd|£]]34 2[[shilling|s]] 4[[pence|d]]; a fifth-class share, that of a seaman, was worth 3s 11½d. The amount was small as the total had to be shared between 79 vessels and the entire army contingent.<ref>{{London Gazette|page=633 |issue=17915|date=3 April 1823}}</ref>}}

''Ajax'' returned to Plymouth from Egypt on 8 June 1802 after the signing of the [[Treaty of Amiens]].

==1805==
In April, [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] [[Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner|Lord Gardner]] sent ''Ajax'', together with {{HMS|Malta|1800|6}} and {{HMS|Terrible|1785|6}} to reinforce [[Vice Admiral (Royal Navy)|Vice-Admiral]] [[Robert Calder|Sir Robert Calder's]] squadron off [[Ferrol, Spain|Ferrol]] after a storm had reduced the squadron to only five ships of the line.

On 31 May 1805 Captain [[William Brown (Royal Navy officer)|William Brown]] took command of ''Ajax''. On 22 July, Calder's fleet of 15 sail of the line, two frigates, a cutter and a lugger was off [[Cape Finisterre]] when it encountered Admiral [[Pierre-Charles Villeneuve]]'s combined Spanish-French fleet of 20 ships of the line, three large ships armed [[en flute]], five frigates and two brigs.
[[File:Battle of Cape Finisterre.jpg|Battle of Cape Finisterre, by [[William Anderson (artist)|William Anderson]], c.1810|left|thumb]]
Calder sailed towards the French with his force. The [[Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805)|battle]] lasted for more than four hours as the fleets became confused in the failing light and thick patchy fog, which prevented either side from gaining a decisive victory. Still, the British were able to capture two Spanish ships, the 80-gun ''San Rafael'' and the 74-gun ''Firme''. The action cost ''Ajax'' two men killed and 16 wounded.

After undergoing repairs in Plymouth, on 18 September, ''Ajax'' and ''Thunderer'', the latter under Captain [[William Lechmere]], joined with Vice-Admiral [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Horatio Nelson]] in {{HMS|Victory}} and sailed from [[Plymouth]] for [[Cadiz]] on 18 September. Captains Brown and Lechmere were later called as witnesses at the court martial of Sir Robert Calder for his failure to resume the battle the next day in the action in July. As a result, [[First Lieutenant]] [[John Pilfold]] commanded ''Ajax'' at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]]. ''Ajax'' was seventh in line in Nelson's column and she fired on both the French 74-gun {{ship|French ship|Bucentaure|1803|2}} and the Spanish 136-gun [[Spanish ship Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad (1769)|''Santissima Trinidad'']]. During the battle ''Ajax'' assisted {{HMS|Orion|1787|6}} in forcing the surrender of the French 74-gun {{ship|French ship|Intrépide|1800|2}}. ''Ajax'' lost two men killed and nine wounded during the battle.

A storm followed the battle and ''Ajax'' rescued seamen from ships in danger of sinking. Lieutenant Pilfold received the Trafalgar medal and a direct promotion to [[Post-captain]] in December. Although he missed the battle, Brown was still the official captain and so too received the Trafalgar medal.{{efn|Brown was then made Commissioner, first of Malta dockyards and then of Sheerness dockyards, before being promoted to Rear-Admiral. Next, he became C.-in-C. Channel Islands. He died of yellow fever in 1814 while C.-in-C. Jamaica.}} In 1847, the Admiralty awarded the [[Naval General Service Medal (1847)|Naval General Service Medal]] with clasp "Trafalgar" to all surviving claimants from the battle.

After Trafalgar, ''Ajax'' was at the blockade of Cadiz. On 25 November, {{HMS|Thunderer|1783|2}} detained the [[Ragusan Republic|Ragusan]] ship ''Nemesis'', which was sailing from [[Isle de France (Mauritius)|Isle de France]] to [[Leghorn, Italy]], with a cargo of spice, [[indigo dye]], and other goods.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=15885|page=129|date=28 January 1806}}</ref> ''Ajax'' shared the prize money with ten other British warships.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16364|page=617|date=24 April 1810}}</ref>

==Loss of ''Ajax''==
[[File:Duckworth's Squadron forcing the Dardanelles.jpg|right|thumb|Duckworth's squadron forcing the Dardanelles]]
From January 1806 ''Ajax'' was under the command of Captain [[Henry Blackwood]].{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=39}} On 1 February 1807 ''Ajax'' joined Admiral [[Sir John Duckworth, 1st Baronet|Sir John Duckworth's]] squadron at [[Malta]] to participate in the [[Dardanelles Operation]].

During the operation an accidental fire destroyed ''Ajax''. The fire began on the evening of 14 February 1807 while ''Ajax'' was anchored off [[Tenedos]]. The fire began in the bread-room where the purser and his assistant had negligently left a light burning.{{sfnp|Gosset|1986|p=57}} As the fire burned out of control, the officers and crew were forced to take to the water. Although 380 people were rescued, 250 lost their lives that night, including many of the crewmen who had been at Trafalgar. ''Ajax'' burned through the night and then drifted on to the island of Tenedos where she blew up the following morning.{{sfnp|Gosset|1986|p=57}}{{sfnp|Brenton|1837|p=199}} Several theories for the cause of the fire were advanced including spontaneous combustion of the ship's coal and a spark falling into hay stored in the cockpit.{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|p=117}} A court martial cleared Captain Blackwood.

==Horsham Museum==
The Shelley Gallery<ref>{{cite book|title=Horsham Museum Guidebook|date=May 2010|publisher=Horsham District Council|page=13}}</ref>  at [[Horsham Museum]], [[Horsham]], [[United Kingdom]], displays a model of ''Ajax''.

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* Allardyce, Alexander (1882) ''Memoir of the Honourable George Keith Elphinstone, K.B., Viscount Keith, Admiral of the Red''. (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood)
* {{cite book |last1=Brenton |first1=Edward Pelham |year=1837 |title=The naval history of Great Britain, from the year MDCCLXXXIII. to MDCCCXXXVI|volume=2 |publisher=H. Colburn}}
* {{Cite book|last=Gosset|first=William Patrick|year=1986|title=The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900|publisher=Mansell|isbn=0-7201-1816-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hepper |first1=David J. |year=1994 |title=British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859 |publisher=Jean Boudriot |location=Rotherfield |isbn=0-948864-30-3}}
* {{cite book |first1=Rif |last1=Winfield |title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates |publisher=Seaforth Publishing|year=2008 |isbn=978-1-86176-246-7}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* Phillips, Michael - [http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=0069 ''Ships of the Old Navy'' - HMS ''Ajax''] (1798).

{{Ajax class ship of the line}}
{{1807 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ajax (1798)}}
[[Category:1798 ships]]
[[Category:Ajax-class ships of the line]]
[[Category:Ships built in Rotherhithe]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1807]]
[[Category:Ship fires]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Turkey]]