HMS Superb (1798)

HMS Superb sails away from the Spanish fleet at Algeciras Bay, while the Hermenegildo and Real Carlos explode in the background after mistakenly firing on one other. Drawing by Antoine Léon Morel-Fatio.
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Superb
Ordered	10 June 1795
Builder	Pitcher, Northfleet
Laid down	August 1795
Launched	19 March 1798
Fate	Broken up, 1826
Notes	Participated in: Battle of Algeciras Battle of San Domingo Bombardment of Algiers (1816)
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Pompée-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1,919 bm
Length	182 ft 2 in (55.52 m) (gundeck)
Beam	49 ft (15 m)
Depth of hold	21 ft (6.4 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder guns QD: 12 × 9-pounder guns Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

HMS Superb was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, and the fourth vessel to bear the name. She was launched on 19 March 1798 from Northfleet, and was eventually broken up in 1826.^[1] Superb is mostly associated with Richard Goodwin Keats who commanded her as captain from 1801 until his promotion in 1806. Keats famously spent only one night (in Algiers) out of the ship during four and a half years out of a home port.^[2] She also served as his flagship from early 1808 until she was paid off in 1809.

Keats's captain's orders for the ship were comprehensive and used by the fledgling US navy, being found on USS Philadelphia in 1803 and the USS President a decade later.^[3]