HMS Hibernia was a 110-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Plymouth dockyard on 17 November 1804, and was the only ship built to her draught, designed by Sir John Henslow.^[1]

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HMS Hibernia at Malta's drydocks around 1860
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Hibernia
Ordered	9 December 1790
Builder	Plymouth dockyard
Laid down	November 1797
Launched	17 November 1804
Fate	Sold then broken up 1902
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	110-gun first-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	2,530 (bm)
Length	201 ft 2 in (61.32 m) (gundeck)
Beam	53 ft 1 in (16.18 m)
Depth of hold	22 ft 4 in (6.81 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	110 guns: Gundeck: 32 × 32-pounder guns Middle gundeck: 32 × 24-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 34 × 18-pounder guns QD: 12 × 32-pounder carronades Fc: 4 × 32-pounder carronades + 2 × 18-pounder guns

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On 11 January 1806, Hibernia capsized in the "Wembury River" — probably a reference to the River Yealm off Wembury, Devon, England — with the loss of 19 of her crew.^[2] She was later refloated, repaired, and returned to service.

Between 1807 and 1808, Hibernia, under the command of Sir William Sidney Smith, led the British escort of the Portuguese Royal Family during the transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil.

Hibernia was flagship of the British Mediterranean Fleet from 1816 until 1855, when she became the flagship for the Royal Navy's base at Malta and stationed in Grand Harbour.^{[citation needed]} She remained in this role until she was sold in 1902.^[1]

After the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, HMS Hibernia was used in the service of the British Empire in other ways, such as to transport convicts to the colony of New South Wales. In 1818–1819, for example, the ship carried 160 male convicts to Sydney from Portsmouth sailing on 20 November and arriving 18 June. Also on board as passengers were the first Minister of St James' Church, Sydney, Richard Hill and his wife.^[3]

The ten-day court-martial of the surviving officers and crewmen of the battleship HMS Victoria for the loss of their ship in a 22 June 1893 collision with the battleship HMS Camperdown was held on Hibernia's deck. The proceedings began on 17 July 1893.^[4]

Hibernia was sold for £1,010 to Michele Apap on 14 October 1902 and broken up at Pietà in 1903.^[5][6] Heavily-painted timbers ended up being used to fire local bakeries, which led to an outbreak of lead poisoning on the island.^[7] A statue of the Virgin Mary, in her mantle as Queen of Heaven, was carved from a section of the ship's main mast and can be seen in the Collegiate Parish Church of St Paul's Shipwreck in Valletta. Her figurehead is now displayed at the Malta Maritime Museum, which is housed in the former Royal Naval Bakery building in Birgu, Malta.

• Figurehead of HMS Hibernia
  at the Malta Maritime Museum
• Hibernia off Fort St. Angelo, Malta, circa 1830. By Giovanni Schranz