Ordered in 1797, the 120 Gun First Rate Ship-of-the-Line HMS CALEDONIA was launched in 1808 from Plymouth Harbor, taking to sea as Admiral Pellew's flagship in the Mediterranean.
CALEDONIA proved to be a very successful ship, and it was said that 'This fine three-decker rides easy at her anchors, carries her lee ports well, rolls and pitches quite easy, generally carries her helm half a turn a-weather, steers, works and stays remarkably well, is a weatherly ship, and lies-to very close.' She was 'allowed by all hands to be faultless'. In later years she was to become the standard design for British three-deckers.
The ship served the Royal Navy throughout her long life at sea, first as a battleship seeing action against the French in the early 1800's and decades later renamed DREADNOUGHT and docked at Greenwich for a time to serve as a floating hospital ship. She even participated as part of an experimental squadron testing new maritime strategies and technology.
The supreme sailing warships of their age, British Ships-of-the-Line were classified by the number of cannons they carried. Fewer than 18 in service at any point carried 100 guns or more to earn the first-rate designation. Considered a pinnacle artform of the ship modeling craft, bone ships made by prisoners during the Napoleonic Conflict are among the most collectible maritime artifacts to be identified.
This rare model is one of the largest POW bone models we have seen in 44 years of offering these models in our gallery
Model Dimensions: 45 Inches in Length Overall, Height 31 1/2 Inches, Depth 12 1/2 Inches, Hull approximately 27 3/4 Inches Long
