HMS Invincible (1747)
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HMS Invincible was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.
She was the French ship L'Invincible until she was captured on May 14 1747 at the first battle of Cape Finisterre during the War of the Austrian Succession. She was escorting a convoy of merchant ships when she was sighted by the British channel fleet of 16 ships of the line, which gave chase. L'Invincible attacked the British ships to give the convoy a chance to escape, and alone engaged six British warships. In the end with most of her crew dead or wounded she struck her colours. Gracious in defeat, the French Commander De St Georges, handed his sword to Admiral George Anson.
During the early part of the 18th century British ship designers had made no significant advances in design, whereas French shipbuilding benefited from a remarkably creative period. At the time of the capture of L'Invincible, there was not one 74-gun ship in the Royal Navy. By 1805 at the battle of Trafalgar, three quarters of British ships were of this singular design and the 74-gun ship became the backbone of all major navies of the world.