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HISTORY
In Brief
The Santísima Trinidad (officially
named Santísima Trinidad by Royal Order on march, the 12th, 1768,
nicknamed La Real and sometimes confused with the Manila gallion
Santísima Trinidad y Nuestra Señora del Buen Fin (1751))) was a
Spanish first-rate ship of the line of 112 guns, which was increased
in 1795-96 to 130 guns by closing in the spar deck between the quarter
deck and forecastle, and around 1802 to 140 guns, thus creating what
was in effect a continuous fourth gundeck although the extra guns
added were actually relatively small. She was the heaviest-armed ship
in the world when rebuilt.
Design & construction
She was built at Havana, Cuba, to a design by Irish naval
architect Matthew Mullan (domiciled in Spain under the name Mateo
Mullán) and launched in 1769 as an 112-gun three-decker (some sources
say 116 or even 120 guns). She was considerably larger than her
British contemporary Victory and somewhat bigger than the French
Bretagne.
Schematics of the layout of the Santísima Trinidad
There is no complete plan of the ship in existence, but there are of
the 112-gun ship from 1765, from which the original dimensions of the
ship may be found. Here, the units of length are the Spanish Burgos
foot (27.86 cm) and the SI metre (100 cm), respectively: length = 213
2/3 (59.53); keel = 182 5/12 (50.82); beam = 57 3/4 (16.09); draught =
28 11/12 (8.06).
In 1795, her forecastle was joined to her quarterdeck to create a
fourth deck containing a battery of eight pounder guns, giving her a
total of 140 guns. Her armament seems to have been quickly reduced to
130 from 136 guns, but she still carried more guns than any other ship
of her time. As the only ship with four gun decks, she was reputed to
be the largest warship in the world, for which she was nicknamed El
Escorial de los mares by the Spanish, until surpassed in sheer size by
the new type French 120-gun ships such as the Océan (1790) and Orient
(1791).
The weight of the additional guns, so high above her waterline, made
her sail poorly, leading to her nickname, El Ponderoso. It was even
suggested by some naval officers that she should be restricted to the
defense of the Bay of Cádiz.
Santísima Trinidad remains famous as one of the few four-decker ships
of the line ever built. The U.S. Navy constructed the four-deck,
136-gun Pennsylvania and the French - Valmy (both with similar flush
deck arrangement), and the Royal Navy planned—but did not actually
build—the proper four-deck Duke of Kent.
Service
In July 1779, Spain declared war on Great Britain, joining France
in support of the American colonists in the American War of
Independence. Santísima Trinidad became the flagship of the Spanish
fleet, taking part in the Franco-Spanish operations in the English
Channel in the late summer of that year.
In August 1780 she took part in the capture of 55 ships from a British
convoy of 63, escorted by the ship of the line HMS Ramillies and three
frigates. In 1782 she was incorporated into the Mediterranean
Squadron, participating in the second siege of Gibraltar and she
fought in the brief and indecisive Battle of Cape Spartel. In 1795,
she was modified by the addition of extra 8-pounder guns on a new deck
between her forecastle and quarterdeck.
Pelayo go to recue Santisima Trinidad at Battle of Cape St Vincent on
14 February 1797
In 1797, she was the flagship of Teniente General José de Córdoba, the
Spanish commander, at Battle of Cape St Vincent on 14 February 1797,
where she was badly damaged and nearly captured by the British fleet.
She was first in action with the British ship Captain (74), commanded
by Commodore Nelson, and Culloden (74). She was then attacked by the
Blenheim (90), Orion (74), Irresistible (74) and Excellent (74). By
now she was severely damaged, having lost all her masts and with half
of her crew killed or wounded. She struck her colours, but the British
failed to take possession and she was saved by the Pelayo (74) and
Principe de Asturias (112). Several days later, Santísima Trinidad was
spotted, still damaged, making her way back to Spain, and engaged by
the 32-gun frigate HMS Terpsichore under Captain Richard Bowen, but
she escaped. She eventually returned to Cadiz for repairs.
Eight years later, commanded by Francisco Javier Uriarte and Rear
Admiral Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, she took part in the Battle of
Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, as part of the combined Franco-Spanish
fleet. Due to her great bulk, her helm was unresponsive in the light
winds of the day, contributing to her ineffective service of the
combined fleet's cause. Her great size and position immediately ahead
of the fleet flagship Bucentaure made her a target for the British
fleet, and she came under concentrated attack by several ships. She
lost her mast and eventually surrendered to the Neptune, commanded by
Captain Thomas Fremantle. She was taken in tow by the Prince, but sank
in a storm the day after the battle having been scuttled by her
British captors
Replica
A full-size replica mode of the Santísima Trinidad can be seen and
visited in the harbour of Málaga, in Spain.
A non-profit non-governmental Canadian association, the Friends of
Santísima Trinidad, is assisting the Office of the Historian of the
City of Havana, Cuba with the construction of a new 1:25
four-metre-long scale model of La Santísima Trinidad. Interior
construction details will be exposed on one side of the vessel, and
visitors will be able to use a computer interface and touch screen to
take a virtual tour of the ship in Spanish, English, and French. The
model will be displayed in the Naval Museum of La Habana, opened in
June 2008 at Castillo de la Real Fuerza, the oldest building in Cuba
and the oldest stone fortress in the New World.
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