HMS Vanguard was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 March 1787 at Deptford. She was the sixth vessel to bear the name.

On 27 November 1793, the ships of a squadron under the command of Captain Thomas Pasley of HMS Bellerophon captured Blonde. At the time of her capture Blonde was armed with 28 guns and had a crew of 210 men under the command of Citizen Gueria. A subsequent prize money notice listed the vessels that shared in the proceeds as Bellerophon, Vanguard, Phoenix, Latona, and Phaeton.

In 1798 Nelson was detached into the Mediterranean by Earl St. Vincent with HMS Orion, Alexander, Emerald, Terpsichore, and Bonne Citoyenne. They sailed from Gibraltar on 9 May and on 12 May were struck by a violent gale in the Gulf of Lion that carried away Vanguard’s topmasts and foremast. The squadron bore up for Sardinia, Alexander taking Vanguard in tow.

On 19 May, while Nelson was off station repairing his storm damage, Napoleon Bonaparte sailed from Toulon with a force of 72 warships and 400 transports to strike at Egypt with the intention of eventually invading India. On 13 June he occupied Malta and, on 19 June, continued the passage to Egypt arriving off Alexandria on 1 July. On 31 May, Nelson returned to Toulon to find that the French had left 13 days earlier. Searching for the enemy he reached Naples on 17 June and Messina on 20 June. Here he learnt of the fall of Malta and the probable destination of the French. He sailed for Alexandria but overtook the French and arrived on 29 June, two days before them. Finding no enemy he returned to Sicily via Asia Minor. Convinced that the French were going to Egypt he set sail once more for Alexandria.

On the evening of 1 August 1798, half an hour before sunset, the Battle of the Nile began when Nelson attacked the French fleet which was moored in a strong line of battle in Aboukir Bay with gunboats, four frigates, and batteries on Aboukir Island to protect their flanks. Goliath (1781) was the leading ship and, followed by four others, she broke through the French line to anchor and fight from the shoreward side. Vanguard remained on the seaward side and soon the French van and centre were being overwhelmed by six ships on either side of their line. The French lost 11 ships of the line and two frigates. Their dead numbered 1700 and the wounded 1500. The British lost 218 killed and 678 wounded.

Vanguard was paid off by the end of 1805. In 1807 she was repaired at Plymouth, and under the command of Captain Thomas Baker became the flagship of Rear Admiral Thomas Bertie in 1808. In 1812 she was made a prison ship at Plymouth and in 1814 she became a powder hulk. Vanguard was broken up in 1821. Investment management company The Vanguard Group is named after HMS Vanguard. The founder of the company chose the name after a dealer in antique prints left him a book about Great Britain’s naval achievements, and a likeness of the ship is emblazoned on the company’s logo

Amati’s fully detailed model kit of one of the most famous 74 gun Ships of the Line. The kit reproduces H.M.S. Vanguard as she was under Horatio Nelson’s command at the Battle of the Nile. The kit includes the figureheads and decorations for building H.M.S. Elephant or H.M.S. Bellerophon

AM1300/04
Scale: 1:72 Length: 117,1 cm Width: 48,6 cm Height: 89,5 cm