HMS UNION     

  Built in 1811, Plymouth, under the supervision of Mr Tucker Launched at Plymouth September 16 Broken up in 1833. Built after the model of the Victory. No further information available.     

  At 4.30 in the afternoon, 50,000 people attended the launch of the UNION. The spectators covering the surrounding areas of the dockyard as far as Mount Wise, devil's Point and Mount Edgecombe, waving flags and shouting. After the usual ceremonies in naming the ship, preformed by Miss Williams of Scorier House, the dog-shores were knocked away, and the voices of the crowds mingling with the bands drowned the noise of the Union entering the receding tide.     

  The UNION's stern cabins were decorated with cedar. The figure head, a bust of the king with a cornucopia on each side of a shield allusive to the UNION. In the centre of the stern was another shield with the motto 'Tria juncta in uno' with a rose, thistle and shamrock.     

  In 1812, the UNION, was Captained by William Kent. While in the Mediterranean, the Union, anchored in the port of Mahon, Minorca. Another ship, the ROYAL GEORGE , was also anchored in the port. It was common during these times for the seamen of one ship to visit seamen of another ship. During one of these visits, and after some drinking, a heated argument broke out between Michael Connolly, from the Union, and James Wilson, from the ROYAL GEORGE. During the argument, a scuffle broke out between the two men, and Michael Connolly shot James Wilson. He was taken to the Militry hospital on King's Island, were he later died of his wounds, and Michael Connolly was put under arrest. A court martial was held on board the Royal George, in port Mahon, on December 31, to try Michael Connolly, a seaman from the Union, for 'having thrown a shot and, in a scuffle which took place soon after, inflicted a wound on James Wilson, another seaman, so as to render it necessary to send him to hospital, where he died, and for drunken and disorderly conduct. He was found 'guilty of wilfully inflicting the wounds on James Wilson and adjudged him to be hanged." The execution of Michael Connolly, was held aboard the Union, on January 4 1813, at seven thirty in the morning, in port Mahon.     

  Following the episode in port Mahon, Edward Pellow, issued a memorandum saying that he felt the deepest regret but drunkenness had become so frequent that he hoped that the awful example would put a stop to a practice so fatal in its consequences. He forbade all ship visiting in future. 1814 Capt. Robert Rolles, Mediterranean.

  1815 Out of commission at Plymouth.

Taken from  Michael Philip's Ships of the Old Navy.