Spanish ship Principe de Asturias (1794)

The Príncipe de Asturias was a Spanish three-deck 112-gun ship of the line, named after Ferdinand, eldest surviving son of Charles IV of Spain. She was built in Havana in 1794 to designs by Romero Landa and launched on 28 January 1794.

Service

She arrived in Cadiz on 17 May 1795 escorting a valuable convoy. In 1797 she gained a new commander, Antonio de Escaño, and was sent out as part of a squadron under general José de Córdova to escort another convoy. After completing that mission, shortly before reaching Cadiz the squadron was surprised by a sudden storm and made for Saint Vincent, meeting a British squadron on 14 February 1797 in the Battle of Cape St Vincent, with Príncipe de Asturias having 10 killed and 19 wounded.

At Trafalgar she flew the flag of general Federico Gravina, who died a year later from wounds he gained during the battle, with Rafael Hore as his flag captain. The ship suffered 50 killed and 110 wounded and after the battle she had to be towed by the French frigate Thémis and then undergo major repairs in Cadiz. She then fought in the Peninsular War, capturing the French ships Heros, Neptune, Algesiras, Vainqueur, Plutón and the frigate Cornelie. In September 1810 she and the Santa Ana crossed the Atlantic to Havana to avoid capture by the French. She struck a rock in 1814 and was scrapped in 1817.