HMS Blake (1808)

HMS Blake was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 23 August 1808 at Deptford[1] and named in honour of Admiral Robert Blake.

Blake leaving Port Royal, Jamaica. (Thomas Buttersworth)
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Blake
Ordered	30 October 1805
Builder	Deptford Dockyard
Laid down	April 1806
Launched	23 August 1808
Fate	Sold, 1816
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Modified Courageux-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1822 (bm)
Length	180 ft (54.9 m) (gundeck)
Beam	48 ft 0+3⁄4 in (14.6 m)
Depth of hold	20 ft 10 in (6.4 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 4 × 12-pounder guns, 10 × 32-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 12-pounder guns, 2 × 32-pounder carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18-pounder carronades

On 26 September 1812, Blake and Franchise provided naval support to a land attack, at night, on Tarragona by troops under the command of General Joaquín Ibáñez Cuevas, Baron d'Eroles. The attack was successful, and resulted, inter alia, in the capture of several small vessels. The Spanish troops suffered three men killed and eight wounded; the British had no casualties whatsoever. Captain Edward Codrington, of Blake, wrote to Baron d'Eroles and to Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean, that the officers and crew declined any prize money from the action, in favour of the Spanish troops, "in admiration of the valour and the discipline which they shewed upon the occasion."[2]