HMS Mars (1848)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Mars.

Mars as a training ship on River Tay, circa 1902
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Mars
Builder	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down	December 1839
Launched	1 July 1848
Fate	Sold, 1929
General characteristics
Class and type	Vanguard-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	2576 bm
Length	190 ft (58 m) (gundeck)
Beam	56 ft 9 in (17.30 m)
Depth of hold	22 ft 6 in (6.86 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	78 guns: Gundeck: 26 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 68 pdr carronades Upper gundeck: 26 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 68 pdr carronades Quarterdeck: 14 × 32 pdrs Forecastle: 2 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades Poop deck: 4 × 18 pdr carronades

HMS Mars was a two-deck 80-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 1 July 1848 at Chatham Dockyard.

She served as a supply carrier in the Crimean War, and was fitted with screw propulsion in 1855. She then saw service in the Mediterranean. In 1869 she was moored in the River Tay, off Woodhaven. Here she served as a training ship for boys aged ten to sixteen from across Scotland, with up to 400 on board at any one time; these boys were usually homeless, orphans, or delinquents. She was finally sold in 1929, when she was sold and towed to Thos. W. Ward's Inverkeithing yard to be broken up.

References

• Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.