HMS Minotaur was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, named after the mythological bull-headed monster of Crete. She was built at Woolwich Dockyard to the design of the captured French ship Courageux, laid down in January 1788, and launched on 6 November 1793. She measured 172 ft 3 in (52.50 m) on the gundeck, with a beam of 47 ft 9 in (14.55 m), a depth of hold of 20 ft 9½ in (6.3 m), and a burthen of 1,723 tons (bm). Her armament consisted of 28 × 32-pounder guns on the lower gun deck, 28 × 18-pounder guns on the upper gun deck, 14 × 9-pounder guns on the quarterdeck, and 4 × 9-pounder guns on the forecastle.
Career
Minotaur saw extensive service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. From 23 March 1794 to 3 March 1802 she was commanded by Captain Thomas Louis (later Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Louis). On 26 September 1795, together with HMS Porcupine, she recaptured the Walsingham Packet from the French corvette brig Insolent.
At the Battle of the Nile (1 August 1798), Minotaur engaged the French ship Aquilon alongside HMS Theseus and forced her surrender. She suffered 23 men killed and 64 wounded. Nelson personally thanked Captain Louis for the support given to his flagship Vanguard.
In May 1800, Minotaur served as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Lord Keith at the siege of Genoa. She was present at the British landings in Aboukir Bay during the invasion of Egypt in 1801, losing three men killed and six wounded. Her service in the Egyptian campaign (8 March to 8 September 1801) entitled her crew to the clasp "Egypt" on the Naval General Service Medal, authorised in 1850.
On 28 May 1803, under Captain Charles John Moore Mansfield (who took command on 11 March 1803), Minotaur—in company with HMS Thunderer and later HMS Albion—captured the French frigate Franchise.
At the Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805), Minotaur was positioned towards the rear of Nelson's weather column. Captain Mansfield addressed his crew before the battle, pledging not to quit any ship he engaged "till either she strikes or sinks – or I sink." Late in the battle, Minotaur and HMS Spartiate placed themselves between the damaged Victory and a counter-attacking French squadron under Rear-Admiral Dumanoir. Minotaur engaged and forced the surrender of the Spanish 80-gun Neptuno. Minotaur suffered 3 killed and 20 wounded at Trafalgar. Mansfield was later awarded a sword and gold medal for his gallantry, both now held at the National Maritime Museum.
In 1807, Minotaur served as the flagship of Rear-Admiral William Essington at the Battle of Copenhagen (August–September 1807), part of Admiral Gambier's fleet.
On 25 July 1809, during the Anglo-Russian War, boats from a British squadron under Captain Charles Pater—including Minotaur, Princess Caroline, Cerberus, and Prometheus—attacked a Russian flotilla off Aspö Head near Fredrickshamn (present-day Hamina, Finland). The British captured three Russian gunboats and a transport brig. Minotaur alone lost 8 killed and 30 wounded. The action earned the clasp "25 July Boat Service 1809" on the Naval General Service Medal.
Shipwreck
On 22 December 1810, while sailing from Gothenburg to Britain under the command of Captain John Barrett, Minotaur became separated from her consorts HMS Plantagenet and Loire in darkness and heavy weather. She struck the Haak Bank (Razende Bol) off the Texel, Netherlands, then part of the First French Empire. The ship became stuck in sand, rolled on her side, and quickly took on water. Despite cutting away the masts to lighten the ship, the hull split asunder by around 08:00 the following morning.
Of the approximately 600 crew, about 110 men escaped in boats and reached the Dutch coast. Captain Barrett and roughly 100 men attempted to escape in a remaining yaul, but it was swamped and all drowned. Around 14:00, Minotaur turned completely over, drowning the remaining crew. The total death toll was between 370 and 570 men. All survivors were taken to France as prisoners of war.
A subsequent court martial, held after the prisoners were released three and a half years later, determined that the deceased pilots were to blame for misjudging their location by over 60 miles due to weather. Some survivors criticised the Dutch authorities for failing to dispatch rescue boats sooner. The shipwreck of Minotaur remains the largest loss of life on the Dutch coast, with the possible exception of HMS Hero wrecked at the same location on 24–25 December 1811. The tragedy spurred the founding of the Koninklijke Noord-Hollandsche Redding-Maatschappij on 11 November 1824, the first Dutch sea-rescue organisation.
Legacy
The painter J. M. W. Turner depicted the sinking in his 1810 painting The Wreck of a Transport Ship, originally conceived as a generic merchant ship but retitled to capitalise on public interest in the Minotaur disaster.
The Union Jack flown by Minotaur at Trafalgar was preserved by Master's mate Stephen Hilton and later presented to St Mary's Church in Kent in 1930. In 2011, the church sold the flag to the National Maritime Museum for a reported £175,000. After conservation, it was put on display in October 2015 to mark Trafalgar Day. It measures 233 cm × 310 cm.
