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Lot Essay
The first 80-gun two-decker in the Royal Navy for almost a hundred years, H.M.S. Caesar was laid down at Plymouth on 24th January 1786 and launched on 16th November 1793. Designed by Surveyor Hunt, she was measured at 2,002 tons and was 181 feet in length with a 50½ foot beam. Mounting 80 guns of varying calibre, including a main armament of 30-32pdrs., her initial complement consisted of 719 officers and men and her completion - as the first such English warship for nearly a century - even inspired a contemporary play "The Launch of the Caesar, or a Trip to Plymouth Dock" to celebrate the event.
Entering service in time to participate in the opening fleet action of the War with Revolutionary France, her part in the battle of 'the Glorious 1st of June' [1794] proved anything but thanks to the blunders of her commander Captain Molloy. Dismissed from the ship as a result, Molloy's actions were entirely his own however and left no lasting stigma as far as Caesar herself was concerned. Continually at sea for the remainder of the decade, her next major encounter with the enemy came in 1801 when she was flagship to Sir James Saumarez's squadron blockading Cadiz. On 12th July, after several days of enemy activity during which Caesar had to be hurriedly refitted, Saumarez attacked and roundly defeated a large combined Franco-Spanish squadron in the battle which soon became known as the action in the 'Gut of Gibraltar'. Thereafter taking part in the famous blockade of Brest from 1803-05, Caesar then found herself leading the squadron which, on 3rd November 1805, intercepted and captured the four surviving French ships from Trafalgar for which her commanding officer Sir Richard Strachan was made a Knight of the Bath. In 1809, by which time she was commanded by Captain Charles Richardson, she took part in the action against the French fleet in the Basque Roads and also played a major role in the Flushing expedition that July.
Rather surprisingly withdrawn from sea service late in 1813, she was converted into an Army Clothing Depot Ship at Plymouth where she remained until broken up in February 1821.
Entering service in time to participate in the opening fleet action of the War with Revolutionary France, her part in the battle of 'the Glorious 1st of June' [1794] proved anything but thanks to the blunders of her commander Captain Molloy. Dismissed from the ship as a result, Molloy's actions were entirely his own however and left no lasting stigma as far as Caesar herself was concerned. Continually at sea for the remainder of the decade, her next major encounter with the enemy came in 1801 when she was flagship to Sir James Saumarez's squadron blockading Cadiz. On 12
Rather surprisingly withdrawn from sea service late in 1813, she was converted into an Army Clothing Depot Ship at Plymouth where she remained until broken up in February 1821.