HMS Namur (1756)

HMS Namur was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1750, and launched on 3 March 1756.

Namur fought in the Battle of Cape St Vincent (1797) under the command of Captain James Hawkins-Whitshed. Namur was astern of HMS Captain, under the command of then Commodore Horatio Nelson, at the beginning stages of the battle.

Namur was razeed to a 74-gun ship in 1805, and was placed on harbour service in 1807. She remained in this role until 1833, when she was finally broken up.

Some of Namur's timbers were used to support the floor of the wheelwright's workshop at Chatham Dockyard. They were rediscovered there in 1995 and identified in 2012.

Notable passengers

 * The marine painter Clarkson Stanfield served on board the ship, after being pressed into the Royal Navy in 1808. He discharged on health grounds in 1814.
 * One of Namur's captains was Charles Austen, a brother of Jane Austen.
 * Olaudah Equiano, a former African slave who was active in the British abolitionist movement, served as a powder monkey on Namur.