Azure Main: The Holy Lady of the Spanish Armada [2024 Remake]

Character Bios II - Meet the Royal Navy/Nelson's Navy

-First Rates-

Name: HMS Victory (1765)
Gender: Female

HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was ordered in 1758, laid down in 1759, and launched in 1765. With 246 years of service as of 2024, she is the world's oldest naval vessel still in commission.

Victory is best known for her role as Horatio, Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. She had previously served as Keppel's flagship at Ushant, Howe's flagship at Cape Spartel and Jervis's flagship at Cape St Vincent.

She has an armament of 30× 2.75-ton long pattern Blomefield 32-pounders (15 kg) on her lower gun deck, 28× 2.5-ton long 24-pounders (11 kg) on her middle gun deck, 30× 1.7-ton short 12-pounders (5 kg) on her upper gun deck, 12× 1.7-ton short 12-pounder (5 kg) on her quarterdeck 2× medium 12-pounders (5 kg), and 2× 68-pounder (31 kg) carronades on her forecastle.

Name: HMS Royal Sovereign (1786)
Gender: Female

HMS Royal Sovereign was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, which served as the flagship of Admiral Collingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar. She was the third of seven Royal Navy ships to bear the name. She was launched at Plymouth Dockyard on the 11th of September, 1786, at a cost of £67,458, and was the only ship built to her design.

Royal Sovereign was part of Admiral Howe's fleet at the Glorious First of June, where she suffered 14 killed and 41 wounded.

On the 16th of June 1795, as the flagship of Vice-Admiral William Cornwallis, she was involved in the celebrated episode known as "Cornwallis' Retreat".

On the 17th of March, 1796 the transport ship Bellisarius collided with her and sank. Belisarius was carrying troops and their dependents to the West Indies. 110 persons were saved from the sinking transport.

Under Admiral Collingwood she was the first ship of the fleet in action at Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, 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 Cádiz, 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.