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Lot Essay
Designed by Thomas Slade and built at Perry, Blackwall Yard, London, the 74-gun H.M.S. Theseus was registered at 1,660 tons and launched on 25th September 1786. Although little is recorded of her early career, by 1797 she had joined the Navy's Mediterranean fleet, under the command of Sir John Jervis, Earl of St Vincent, and was present at the blockade of Cadiz in the aftermath of the battle of Cape St Vincent. In May and June 1797, the mutinies at Spithead and the Nore had paralysed the Navy in home waters and had threatened disaster. In Jervis's ships discipline was tight and morale was high, so many of the disaffected ships, including H.M.S. Theseus were sent to join the Mediterranean fleet. When Theseus arrived in great disorder her captain was removed and Nelson, his flag captain Ralph Willett Miller, and several of his favourite officers turned over to her. Within a fortnight a note was left on the quarter-deck from the ship's company:
"Success attend Admiral Nelson God bless Captain Miller we thank them for the officers they have placed over us. We are happy and comfortable and will shed every drop of blood in our veins to support them, and the name of the Theseus shall be immortalised as high as Captain's ship's company."
(Nelson's Letters to his Wife, 326).
Although Jervis showed no tolerance for mutinous men, he well understood that inactivity had been one of the springs of discontent in the Channel fleet, and so he made sure his fleet was not inactive. In July 1797, word came that a rich treasure ship was sheltering in Santa Cruz, Tenerife. Nelson, in Theseus, was dispatched to undertake it. After two failed attempts, Nelson was persuaded to try one last time, the plan being for a full frontal assault of the town. However, the Spanish defences were well prepared by the previous attempts, and strong currents swept the landing boats along the shore. Nelson's was one of only a few ships to reach the mole. Nelson was wounded in the right arm whilst stepping onto the land, and although his stepson got him back to Theseus, his arm had to be amputated. He was forced to return to Britain to recuperate, and the command of H.M.S. Theseus passed to his friend Captain Ralph Willett Miller.
Under Miller's command, Theseus was present at the battle of the Nile (1798) and the siege of Acre, where, on 14th May 1799, Miller was killed by an explosion on board the ship. According to Admiral Sir Sidney Smith, Miller had been in the habit of collecting unexploded shells in the town and then firing them back to the town with great effect. He had gathered a small collection of these on board Theseus, when, unaccountably, they exploded at short intervals, killing and wounding nearly 80 men, and wrecking and setting fire to part of the ship. Miraculously Theseus survived and in 1803, under the command of Captain John Bligh, she assisted in the blockade of Saint-Domingue. Theseus remained in active service in the Caribbean for the next few years, becoming the flagship of the station's new commander, Vice-Admiral James Richard Dacres, in 1805, and consequently saw no action at Trafalgar later that same year. Eventually returning to English waters, after a long and eventful career Theseus was broken up at Chatham Dockyard in 1814.
This painting hung in the wardroom of the aircraft carrier H.M.S. Theseus, launched in 1944 and the third ship to bear that name. A photograph of H.M.S. Theseus is sold with this lot.
"Success attend Admiral Nelson God bless Captain Miller we thank them for the officers they have placed over us. We are happy and comfortable and will shed every drop of blood in our veins to support them, and the name of the Theseus shall be immortalised as high as Captain's ship's company."
(Nelson's Letters to his Wife, 326).
Although Jervis showed no tolerance for mutinous men, he well understood that inactivity had been one of the springs of discontent in the Channel fleet, and so he made sure his fleet was not inactive. In July 1797, word came that a rich treasure ship was sheltering in Santa Cruz, Tenerife. Nelson, in Theseus, was dispatched to undertake it. After two failed attempts, Nelson was persuaded to try one last time, the plan being for a full frontal assault of the town. However, the Spanish defences were well prepared by the previous attempts, and strong currents swept the landing boats along the shore. Nelson's was one of only a few ships to reach the mole. Nelson was wounded in the right arm whilst stepping onto the land, and although his stepson got him back to Theseus, his arm had to be amputated. He was forced to return to Britain to recuperate, and the command of H.M.S. Theseus passed to his friend Captain Ralph Willett Miller.
Under Miller's command, Theseus was present at the battle of the Nile (1798) and the siege of Acre, where, on 14
This painting hung in the wardroom of the aircraft carrier H.M.S. Theseus, launched in 1944 and the third ship to bear that name. A photograph of H.M.S. Theseus is sold with this lot.