The Trafalgar survivor that lasted until 1949 before being scuttled | Nostalgia

However, she was originally the French navy's Téméraire-class ship-of-the-line Duguay-Trouin, launched in 1800.

She survived the Battle of Trafalgar five years later only for the British to capture her at the subsequent Battle of Cape Ortegal.

Remarkably Implacable survived the Second World War. Still, the Admiralty scuttled her by an explosive charge on December 2, 1949.

A fireboat towed her from Portsmouth Harbour to a spot east of the Isle of Wight and she sank into Saint Catherine's Deep, about five miles from Ventnor.

A French warship was in attendance to render honours.

Implacable was by then the second oldest ship of the navy after HMS Victory, and there were heavy protests against her disposal.

However, given post-war austerity the government decided against restoring her, which was estimated at £150,000 with another £50,000 for re-rigging.

Here she is pictured in Portsmouth Harbour in the 1930s.

A message from the editor, Mark Waldron.

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