HMS Mars was a ‘Mars-class’ ship of the line with 74 guns, launched from Deptford in 1794, and had an adventurous and violent career until Trafalgar where she was heavily damaged as she took fire from five different French and Spanish 74-gun ships. She continued in action until 1813 when she was placed ‘in ordinary’ (mothballed) until 1823 when she was broken up.
Captain George Duff RN (1764 –1805) fought in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, and Trafalgar. He stowed away on a merchant ship when not yet a teenager. At thirteen he joined his great uncle Captain (later Admiral) Robert Duff in the Mediterranean, and was commissioned lieutenant at 16. During these years, Duff saw action thirteen times on both sides of the Atlantic. Duff was a proud Scotsman as well as a strict disciplinarian. He enforced cleanliness parades every week, and made every effort to make sure that as many Scots as possible served on his ships.
Rapidly moulding HMS Mars to his own brand of Scottish discipline, Duff took her to join the fleet off Cadiz at the beginning of October 1805 and instantly became friends with Nelson. Such was Duff's reputation, that Nelson set him to command the inshore squadron, which watched the harbour entrance for an enemy appearance.
Duff did not see more than the few opening shots of the Battle of Trafalgar, for as Mars engaged the French Fougueux and Pluton, a cannonball from Fougueux raked the quarter-deck and struck Captain Duff at the base of the neck, severing his head completely. The crew were undismayed however, carrying the headless corpse around the deck and giving three cheers in memory of their captain, before replacing him where he fell and covering him with a Union Flag. Command of the Mars devolved on the first lieutenant, William Hennah, who performed a good service and was promoted as a reward.