Loss
She ran aground on 24 December 1811 off the west coast of Jutland, Denmark. She was under the command of Captain D. Atkins and in the company of St George, under Rear-admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds, and Cressy, when a hurricane and heavy seas came up. St George was jury-rigged and so Atkins refused to leave her without the Admiral's permission. As a result both were wrecked near Ringkøbing. Cressy did not ask for permission and so avoided wrecking.
Defence lost all but 14 of her crew of 597 men and boys, including her captain. St George too lost almost her entire crew, including the admiral. Most of the bodies that came ashore were buried in the sand dunes of Thorsminde, which have been known ever since as "Dead Mens Dunes".
Read more about this topic: HMS Defence (1763)
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