Dreadnought

Captain John Conn

The name is supposed to mean “Fearing nought but God”. Her captain later died at age 46 off Bermuda. He was commanding HMS Swiftsure and pursuing a French ship when he slipped and fell overboard.

Admiral Collingwood had his flag on the ship before the battle. The ship, however, was sluggish due to the formation of barnacles. He shifted to the Royal Sovereign, which had been sent for him from England under the command of John Penn. Perhaps due to his presence, Dreadnought reputedly had the most efficient gunnery crews in the fleet, and could fire 3 broadsides in 210 seconds.

Dreadnought remained in (Collingwood’s) division (lee column) and was eighth in line between Achille and Polyphemus. It was 2 p.m. before she came into action with the French Indominatable (74 Guns) and the Spanish San Juan Nepomuceno (74 guns) which she forced to surrender in 35 minutes with her Captain dead and almost 300 casualties. Dreadnought then matched herself against a Spanish three decker, the Principe de Asturias (112 guns), and damaged her so badly that she set sail to escape with Admiral Gravina badly wounded and almost 150 other casualties. The Principe de Asturias was able to escape but the San Juan Nepomuceno was taken as a prize.

http://www.treeforall.org.uk/trafalgar/TrafalgarWoods/Otherwoods/Dreadnought/

Considering her achievements, Dreadnought got off very lightly, with just 7 killed and 26 wounded.

Year Launched	Type Ship	Served Till
1573	41 guns	1648
1691	60 guns	1748
1742	60 guns	1784
1801	98 guns	1857
1875	4 x 12.5-inch	1908
1906	10 x 305mm (12-inch)	1921
1963	SSN (pennant S101) 24 torpedoes	1980

Dreadnaught in the mid-1850s, serving as quarantine ship.

Information from www.wikipedia.com

Crest image of S101 from http://www.submarineheritage.com/gallery_dreadnought.html