Thunderer was built by the Wells brother's shipyard in
Rotherhithe and launched on 13 November 1783. In 1794 she fought at the
Glorious First of June under Captain
Albemarle Bertie, and from 1796 to 1801 served in the West Indies, under a succession of captains. During this period, under Captain Pierre Flasse,
Thunderer fought at the
Battle of Jean-Rabel in which she and forced the crew of the French frigate
Harmonie to scuttle their vessel to prevent her capture. On 15 October, and , and later and , and later still and
Concorde, chased two French frigates,
Tartu and
Néréide, 50-gun frigate
Forte, and the brig-aviso (or corvette)
Éveillé.
Pomone and her squadron had recaptured
Kent on 9 October.
Orion recaptured
Albion. Warren's squadron returned to England in December with the remnants of the expedition to Quiberon Bay. In mid-1799
Thunderer was part of a British squadron that detained the schooner
Pegasus.
Pegasus had been flying an American flag and was carrying 68 slaves from Jamaica to Havana. Her captors sent
Pegasus into the Bahamas where they were sold in late June and early July. The advertisements for the sales gave the origins of the slaves as Martinique, suggesting that
Pegasus had been carrying false papers. On 10 October 1800,
Thunderer rescued the crew of which had struck a reef off the north coast of Cuba. The British set fire to
Diligence as they left. It turned out that she had hit an uncharted shoal near Rio Puercos.
Thunderer was recommissioned in 1803 under the command of Captain William Bedford. On 14 June 1803
Rosamond arrived at Torbay. She had been sailing to France from San Domingue when
Thunderer captured her.
Rosamond was carrying a cargo of coffee, cotton, and sugar with an estimated value of £30,000. On 26 July 1803
Thunderer captured the French privateer brig
Venus.
Venus, of 358 tons (bm), was pierced for 28 cannons but carried 18, sixteen 6-pounder guns and two 8-pounder carronades. She had a crew of 150 men, under the command of M. Lemperierre. She had sailed from Bordeaux five days earlier, in company with four other privateers. In his letter describing the capture, Captain Bedford described her as quite new, coppered, and well suited for the Royal Navy. In 1805
Thunderer fought in Admiral
Calder's fleet at the
Battle of Cape Finisterre. Her captain,
William Lechmere, returned to
England to attend a
court-martial as a witness to the events of Admiral Calder's action off Cape Finisterre at the time of the battle. Later that year she fought at the
Battle of Trafalgar under the command of her First Lieutenant,
John Stockham. The surgeon on board was
Scotsman James Marr Brydone, who was the first of the main British battle fleet to sight the Franco-Spanish fleet.
Thunderer signalled the
Victory and three minutes later battle orders were signalled to the British fleet beginning the Battle of Trafalgar. On 25 November,
Thunderer detained the
Ragusan ship
Nemesis, of 350 tons (bm), four guns and 18 men, Poulovich, master.
Nemesis was sailing from
Isle de France to
Leghorn, Italy, with a cargo of spice,
indigo dye, and other goods.
Thunderer shared the prize money with ten other British warships. In 1807,
Thunderer served in the
Dardanelles Operation as part of a squadron under
Admiral Sir John Duckworth and was badly damaged when the squadron withdrew from the area. She was decommissioned in November 1808 and broken up in March 1814. It is reputed that some of her timbers were re-used to build
Christ Church, Totland on the
Isle of Wight, whilst others were used in the construction of the
lych gate at
St. Nicolas' Church at
North Stoneham near
Eastleigh. ==Notes==