Bellona, Captain, and the 74-gun standard

Thomas Slade's Bellona design became a model for the Royal Navy's 74-gun third rates and several closely related classes. Bellona carried twenty-eight 32-pounders on the lower deck and twenty-eight 18-pounders on the upper deck, with fourteen 9-pounders on the quarterdeck and four on the forecastle. A French frigate might match the weight of Bellona's 18-pounder shot, but still had to face the much heavier lower battery. HMS Captain carried the same combination and numbers of long guns. Captain had already been associated with Nelson's boarding of larger ships before serving in this pursuit. Sir Richard Strachan is suggested as Captain's commander for the action, with explicit uncertainty about the command chronology. Whatever that attribution, the British squadron had several ships whose batteries individually overwhelmed the lighter French vessels.