Editing HMS Defence (1763) (section)

==Captain Atkins and his culpability for the loss==
Captain David Atkins is first noted as a [[midshipman]] under Captain [[Erasmus Gower]] in {{HMS|Edgar|1779|6}} in 1780–81. For two years commencing in 1792, he was 3rd lieutenant with Gower in {{HMS|Lion|1777|6}} under Gower.  John Barrow later claimed Atkins while on ''Lion'' was a navigator, "showing skill in lunar observations way beyond his years".<ref name="Bates"/> He followed Gower onto {{HMS|Triumph|1764|6}} and was [[first lieutenant]] on ''Triumph'' from 1794. He was promoted [[Captain (Royal Navy)|captain]] in 1798; in 1801, he was promoted to captain; and thence to [[flag captain]] to Gower on [[HMS Princess Royal|''Princess Royal'']]. In 1805 {{HMS|Seine}} was captained by him.<ref name="Bates"/> In 1809, he commanded ''Defence'' in the [[Walcheren Expedition]].<ref name="Bates">{{cite book |first1=David |last1=Bates |first2=David I. |last2=Gower |location=Pomona, Queensland |title=Champion of the Quarterdeck: Admiral Sir Erasmus Gower (1742-1814) |publisher=Sage Old Books |isbn=9780958702126|year=2017}}{{cite web|last1=Atkins|first1=David|title=David Atkins biography|url=https://www.sageoldbooks.com/egap/ab.html#Atkins|publisher=[[Sage Old Books]]|accessdate=4 April 2018|ref=DAtkins}}</ref><ref name=Tracy>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-vqQ49SRhiEC&dq=David+Atkins+HMS+Defence&pg=PA60 |pages=60–62|title=The Naval Chronicle: 1811-1815 |volume=5 |first1=Nicholas |last1=Tracy |isbn=9780811711111 |date=1998|type=Hardcover |location=London; Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, USA |publisher=[[Chatham Publishing]], [[Stackpole Books]] |language=English}}</ref><ref name="Clowes">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TR5EAAAAYAAJ&dq=David+Atkins+Royal+Navy+officer&pg=PA498 |page=498 |title=The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to the Present |volume=5 |authorlink1=William Laird Clowes |authorlink2=Clements Robert Markham |authorlink3=Alfred Thayer Mahan |authorlink4=Herbert Wrigley Wilson |first1=William Laird |last1=Clowes |first2=Clements Robert |last2=Markham |first3=Alfred Thayer |last3=Mahan |first4=Herbert Wrigley |last4=Wilson |year=1900 |publisher=S. Low, Marston}}</ref><ref name="Gilly">{{cite book |title=Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy Between 1793 and 1857 Compiled Principally from Official Documents in the Admiralty 
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UJEG6Sk3I9IC |edition=3rd |year=1864 |publisher=[[Longman|Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green]]  |language=English |first1=William Stephen |last1=Gilly |authorlink1=William Stephen Gilly  |page=376}}</ref><ref name="Mackenzie">{{cite book |title=The Trafalgar Roll: Containing the Names and Services of All Officers of the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines who Participated in the Glorious Victory of the 21st October 1805, Together with a History of the Ships Engaged in the Battle |first1=Robert Holden |last1=Mackenzie |authorlink1=Robert Holden Mackenzie |isbn= 0719120330 |orig-year=1913 |type=Hardcover |year=1969 |publisher=[[Cornmarket Press]] |location=London |pages=179, 182, 185}}</ref>{{excessive citations inline|date=March 2021}}

Accounting for blame for the loss is conflicted.  Some say he followed HMS ''St George'' onto the reef. As published by Brenton 3 Brenton (1837) ''Naval History of Great Britain'' the ''St George'', bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds, ran ashore. Ostensibly, when told of this, Atkins asked whether the admiral had made the signal giving him leave to part company. Hearing a denial, Atkins said: "I will never desert my Admiral in the hour of danger and distress." ''Defence'' ran aground and was overcome by a breaking sea. The breakup led to loss of 593 men, her full complement being 597.<ref name="Bates"/> One of the survivors said that "At half-past twelve the captain told Mr. Baker he would not wear till the St. George did, but would stay by her."<ref>''The Naval Chronicle'', Vol 28 p 210</ref>

On the other hand, the ''Annual Register'' (Vol 54), however, states that "HMS ''Defence'' was the first ship to run aground and that HMS ''St George'' (flagship) immediately let go its anchor but that the ship swung around on her cable and also went aground as a result." This account was corroborated by an account printed in ''[[Gentleman's Magazine]]'' in 1812.  In the incident, "HMS ''St George'' was also destroyed, with the loss of 838 lives, including Reynolds."<ref name="Bates"/> Given [[Fog of war|the fog of war]] and passage of time, this historical debate may never be conclusively resolved.<ref name="Bates"/>

Atkins' body was buried with full [[Military honours]] by the Danes.<ref name="Bates"/>

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