In 1807, when Denmark was under threat from a French invasion, Brunswick was part of a task force, under overall command of James Gambier, sent to demand the surrender of the Danish fleet.

She returned to the Baltic some months later, following the Treaty of Tilsit and, while attached to Richard Goodwin Keats' squadron, she helped with the evacuation of 10,000 Spanish troops from the region.

At the end of that year he was superseded by Sir Roger Curtis, under whom Brunswick spent most of 1791 at Spithead until the settlement of the Russian Armament, without hostility, in late August.

She then paid off, but was immediately recommissioned to serve as a guardship in Portsmouth Harbour, and continued in that role through 1792, except for a brief period spent in the "Evolution Squadron".

Having had two frigates confirm that the French fleet was still in port, Howe attempted to intercept the convoy in advance by placing his ships where he thought an encounter most likely.

Also searching for the convoy, Montagu had been cruising between Cape Ortugal and Belle-Isle, but knowing he would be hopelessly outnumbered, he had sent Venus to locate Howe and ask for reinforcements.

The weather cleared on the morning of 1 June, and both fleets were drawn up line ahead, sailing in the same direction, Brunswick in the centre, immediately behind Hood's flagship, the first-rate Queen Charlotte and in front of Valiant.

[17] Gibraltar was, however, able to stop a fourth enemy ship, the first-rate Républicain, from joining in, by bringing down her main and mizzen masts from a distance, while Brunswick, having made all sail as directed, was close enough to draw the fire of the Vengeur du Peuple.

[18] Unable to pass astern, Harvey had his ship come hard alongside and the two became locked together; the Brunswick's anchors fouling on Vengeur's fore-shrouds and channels.

The British, prevented from opening their lower gun ports by the pressure exerted by the hull of Vengeur du Peuple, simply shot through them and the two ships drifted out of the line as they exchanged broadsides.

[20] A while later, at 11:00, a second French ship, Achille, attempted to join the action but Brunswick shot away her only remaining mast, which fell over the side and obstructed her guns.

[21] Henry Harvey in HMS Ramillies then sailed to his brother's aid; raking Vengeur du Peuple twice and forcing the two ships apart, before turning to secure Achille.

[24] Brunswick had been badly damaged; she had lost her mizzen mast completely, her yards were shattered and her sails and rigging had been shot away, 23 guns had been dismounted, she had been on fire three times and her starboard quarter gallery was missing.

On the morning of 8 June, Cornwallis' force comprising five ships-of-the-line, two frigates and a small brig-sloop, was cruising southwards along the Breton coast and past the Penmarck Rocks, when at 10:30, HMS Triumph signalled the presence of six sails to the north-east.

Cornwallis turned his squadron to investigate and discovered the ships were part of a large merchant convoy, escorted by three ships-of-the-line and six or seven frigates under the overall command of Contre-Amiral Jean Gaspard Vence.

[28][29] Prevented from pressing their attack by the shoal waters and batteries, the British anchored in the Palais Road, close to the island, where they remained until the following evening.

Bellerophon was sailing so slowly that her captain, James Cranstoun, ordered four carronades and a large amount of roundshot to be thrown over the side.

By coincidence at 18:00 four small sail appeared in the distance which, coupled with Phaeton's ruse de guerre was enough to convince Villaret that the British fleet was arriving.

It was feared that Denmark, under pressure from France, might deny Britain access to the Baltic Sea, something the British believed vital for trade as well as being a major source of the raw materials required for building and maintaining their warships.

[45] On arrival off Gothenburg, on 1 August, Gambier despatched four ships-of-the-line and two frigates to guard the Great Belt and stop reinforcements being brought in from Holstein, where a Danish army of 24,000 was camped.

[47] On 10 August, having refused initial demands by the British, the Danes made further preparations to defend their city – already heavily fortified with 174 guns of 24 and 36lb, and 25 of the largest calibre mortars available.

[44] The British landed a contingent of troops 12 miles north of the city on 16 August, the fleet returning to Copenhagen later the following day, where Gambier issued a retaliatory proclamation that all Danish vessels were to be detained.

[44] As the troops moved to lay siege to the city and construct batteries, they received heavy fire from Danish gunboats, which in turn were harassed by the smaller ships from the British fleet.

[50] By 1 September, the French had arrived at Strasland and Gambier was obliged to send more of his ships to blockade the port and prevent the passage of reinforcements to Zealand.

Having now completed batteries for 48 mortars and howitzers plus twenty 24lb long guns, the commander of the British army, William Cathcart, and Gambier made a final appeal to the Danes, this time offering to return the ships at the end of hostilities.

[53] Following the Treaty of Tilsit, Russia became an enemy of the United Kingdom and Sweden,[54] and in May 1808, Brunswick was sent back to the Baltic; part of a fleet, under James Saumarez.

[57] On 9 August a plan was formulated for the Spaniards to seize the fort and town of Nyborg, allowing Keats' squadron to take possession of the port and organise the evacuation.

Prevented from taken his squadron into the harbour by contrary winds, Keats had 57 local boats loaded with the Spaniards' stores and artillery and taken to Slipshavn, four miles to the south-east, where, on 11 August, the troops were able to embark.

[1] This article includes data released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported UK: England & Wales Licence, by the National Maritime Museum, as part of the Warship Histories project.