Qualla: HMS Agamemnon (1781)

HMS Agamemnon (1781): Introduction

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pocock, Nicholas (artist), Public domain. Horatio Nelson commanded many ships, but he loved only one. HMS Agamemnon, a 64-gun ship of the line launched in 1781, was the vessel he called his favorite, the one he captained for three years and three months as a younger man making his name in the Mediterranean. Her own crew, unimpressed by the fashion for classical names, are said to have rechristened her with a nickname of their own. She fought from the American Revolution through Trafalgar, took on a Spanish four-decker and won, and outlived the admiral who adored her. And then, far from England, she ran out of luck in the brown waters off Uruguay, where her bones still lie beneath the estuary of the Río de la Plata.

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Image: Pocock, Nicholas (artist) | Public domain

HMS Agamemnon (1781): Nelson's Favorite

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit en:Charlesdrakew, Public domain. Agamemnon was ordered in 1777 from the shipbuilder Henry Adams at Bucklers Hard, a small yard on the Beaulieu River, and built from oak felled in the surrounding New Forest. She cost just over £38,000 and was launched in April 1781. The future Lord Nelson took command in January ...

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Image: en:Charlesdrakew | Public domain

HMS Agamemnon (1781): A Hard Life Under Sail

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nicholas Pocock (1740-1821), Public domain. Few ships were worked harder. Agamemnon helped capture French convoys in the Bay of Biscay, fought at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782, and carried Nelson's seamen ashore to take the Corsican town of Bastia after a 40-day siege. She chased the French at the Battle of Genoa and r...

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Image: Nicholas Pocock (1740-1821) | Public domain

HMS Agamemnon (1781): Trafalgar

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nicholas Pocock, Public domain. On 21 October 1805, Agamemnon took her place eighth in Nelson's weather column at the Battle of Trafalgar. In the smoke and thunder she came up against the Santísima Trinidad, the largest warship afloat, a Spanish four-decker that dwarfed her. Agamemnon poured fire into the giant...

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Image: Nicholas Pocock | Public domain

HMS Agamemnon (1781): The End off Maldonado

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nicholas Pocock (1740-1821), 1810, Public domain. Agamemnon's last years carried her to South American waters off Brazil and the Río de la Plata. By 1809 she was worn out, her defects catalogued in detail by her own carpenter. In June, working between Gorriti Island and the shore near Maldonado, she struck an uncharted shoal. Ca...

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Image: Nicholas Pocock (1740-1821), 1810 | Public domain