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HMS ''Elephant'' was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by George Parsons in Bursledon, Hampshire, and launched on 24 August 1786.〔 In late November 1790 the ship narrowly avoided destruction when lightning struck her whilst she was in Portsmouth harbour. The main topmast exploded but did not plunge through the quarterdeck as it was still held by the toprope. In 1801 Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson chose ''Elephant'' as his flagship during the Battle of Copenhagen due to its suitability for the shallow waters there. It was on this ship that he is said to have put his telescope to his blind eye and claimed not to be able to see a signal ordering him to withdraw. In mid-1803, the squadron under Captain Henry William Bayntun, consisting of , , , ''Elephant'', and captured ''Poisson Volant'' and . The Royal Navy took both into service. The ship participated in the Blockade of Saint-Domingue in the same year. The British patrolled off Cap-François. On 24 July the squadron, made up of ''Bellerophon'', ''Elephant'', , and HMS ''Vanguard'', came across two French 74-gun ships, ''Duquesne'' and ''Duguay-Trouin'', and the frigate ''Guerrière'', attempting to escape from Cap-François. The squadron gave chase, and on 25 July overhauled and captured ''Duquesne'' after a few shots were fired, while ''Duguay-Trouin'' and ''Guerrière'' managed to evade their pursuers and escape to France. One man was killed aboard ''Bellerophon'' during the pursuit.〔 ''Elephant'' remained blockading Cap-François until November, when the French commander of the garrison there, General Rochambeau was forced to surrender. To prevent Rochambeau escaping, launches from ''Bellerophon'' and ''Elephant'' went into the Caracol Passage where they cut out the French schooner ''Découverte'' on 22-23 November. The French formally surrendered on 30 November. ==Fate== ''Elephant'' was reduced to a 58-gun fourth-rate in 1818, and broken up in 1830.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMS Elephant (1786)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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