- HMS Cornwallis (1813)
HMS "Cornwallis" was a 74-gun
third rate ship of the line of theRoyal Navy , launched on12 May 1813 atBombay .On
27 April 1815 , she was engaged by the American sloop USS "Hornet", which had mistaken the "Cornwallis" for a merchant ship. Heavily outgunned, the "Hornet" was forced to throw boats, guns and other equipment overboard in order to escape.After
China 's defeat in theFirst Opium War , representatives from the British andQing Empires negotiated a peace treaty aboard the "Cornwallis" inNanjing , and on29 August 1842 , British representative SirHenry Pottinger and Qing representatives,Qiying , Ilibu and Niujian, signed theTreaty of Nanking aboard her."Cornwallis" was fitted with screw propulsion and reduced to 60 guns in 1855, and took part in the
Crimean War , where she was commanded byGeorge Wellesley , futureadmiral andFirst Sea Lord , and the nephew of the Duke of Wellington.She was converted to a
jetty atSheerness in 1865, and then used as a base ship from 1916, when she was renamed HMS "Wildfire". After an extended career she was broken up in 1957 at Sheerness.References
*Lavery, Brian (2003) "The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850." Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
*Colledge
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