1:1200 Langton Santa Ana 1st Rate 112 Gun SOL

For some obscure reason this ship has taken more than three weeks to complete. At two weeks and three days I finished the ship the first time. Within minutes I was starting to photograph the model and after just one snap an unsecured book fell on it and crushed it. I sat there in shock for several minutes, then came the expletives, and last came the despair. It was unrecoverable. I had to cut away all of the rigging and pull the corkscrewed masts. After sulking for a day, I stole the 3D T&J sail set from my unbuilt Queen Charlotte and started again. I had to clean up the hull and remount it to the base as well. It has taken three days to finish her again with just a few minor changes.

Santa Ana was a 112-gun three-decker ship of the line of the Spanish Navy, built to plans by Romero Landa. She was the prototype and lead ship of the Santa Ana class, also known as los Meregildos, which were built during the following years at Ferrol and Havana and which formed the backbone of the Spanish Navy. The other ships were the Mejicano, Conde de Regia, Salvador del Mundo, Real Carlos, San Hermenegildo, Reina Maria Luisa and Principe de Asturias. Her dimensions were 213.4 Burgos feet long, 58 feet in the beam and a total tonnage of 2,112. She was launched on 28 September 1784 at the Reales Astilleros de Esteiro. She was tested at sea on 28 February 1785 under the captaincy of Felix de Tejada, who reported the test to his commanding officer that the ship "kept the battery in good use even in a fresh wind and heavy seas". The success of the trials led to a royal order that subsequent three-deckers would be built to the same plans.

From 1803 to 1804 she was captained by Dionisio Alcala Galiano. At Trafalgar she was the flagship of Alava and Captained by Jose de Gardoqui. She suffered 97 killed and 141 wounded, with Alava himself seriously wounded, and was captured by the British. However, two days later, a squadron under the command of Commodore Cosmao-Kerjulien succeeded in recapturing her and getting her back to Cadiz.
At the start of the Peninsular War in 1808 she was undergoing repairs at the Arsenal and so could not participate in the capture of the French squadron under Admiral Rosily. She and Principe de Asturias moved to Havana in 1810 to avoid capture by the French and sank in its Aresenal in 1816. In 1834 she could still be seen next to the Principe de Asturias (which had also been sunk) in the mud in front of the Arsenal.

At the time of Trafalgar she had the following armament:
Lower gun deck: 30 x 36 pounders

Middle gun deck: 32 x 24 pounders

Upper gun deck: 32 x 12 pounders

Quarterdeck & Forecastle: 10 x 8 pounders, 10 x 48 pounder obuses (howitzers), 2 x 32 pounder obuses, 6 x 24 pounder obuses.

This adds up to 122 carriage guns, with 28 on the quarterdeck and forecastle. The Langton NS20 Santa Ana model only has 14 guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle, so I am listing these as 8 pounders. 

The next three pictures are examples I used for painting guides. I also used information from the following sites: http://naval.histofig.com/Painting-of-Napoleonic-Spanish.html and http://www.todoababor.es/listado/index.htm an excellent resource for Spanish ships.

The first photo is the only picture of the first build of the model. It was destroyed within seconds of this photo.

The following photos are of the rebuilt ship.

Here is a comparison shot with the Langton 68 gun Dutch 3rd rate DU1.

I hope you have enjoyed this and I always appreciate comments, suggestions and ideas.