HMS Powerful (1826)
1826 Canopus-class second-rate ship of the line
HMS Powerful was an 84-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 May 1825 at Chatham Dockyard.
From 1 January 1839 to the end of 1840 Powerful was commanded by Captain Charles Napier, mainly in the Mediterranean and for much of the time as lead ship of a detached squadron under Napier's orders. On the evening of 29 May 1839 she was anchored in the Cove of Cork, Ireland when Napier received urgent orders from the Admiralty to proceed at once to Malta in view of the imminent probability of war with Egypt. He was also informed that the ships-of-the-line HMS Ganges and HMS Implacable had already started from England. Wishing to overtake them, Napier set sail at 2 a.m. on the 30th for Gibraltar. Powerful arrived at Gibraltar on 12 June to hear the other two ships were three days ahead of her, but by superior seamanship Napier overtook them in the Mediterranean and Powerful entered the harbour of La Valletta, Malta on the evening of 24 June, with band playing and under every stitch of canvas, twelve hours ahead of her rivals.
After a year in the Mediterranean while the political situation changed, the ship took a prominent part in the Syrian War against the expansionist designs of Mehmet Ali, notably at the bombardment of Acre, 3 November 1840, where she sustained damage but no casualties. Powerful was then flagship of the squadron that blockaded Alexandria from 25 November. In 1841 Napier was succeeded as her captain by George Mansel, and then Sir Michael Seymour, who commanded her from 1841 until she paid off at Portsmouth in 1843.
The public source identifies “HMS Powerful (1826)” as 1826 Canopus-class second-rate ship of the line. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Powerful, Canopus-class and second-rate.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “HMS Powerful (1826)”, the useful work is to connect “1826 Canopus-class second-rate ship of the line” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 14, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5633854. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1825, 1839, 1840 and 1841.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “HMS Powerful (1826)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow HMS Powerful (1826) primary sources, HMS Powerful (1826) archive and Powerful research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “HMS Powerful (1826)”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “HMS Powerful (1826)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.