Invincible was built by the French in 1744 and captured by the British on the 3rd May 1747, her remains are highly significant both historically and archaeologically for the following reasons:

Of international importance, HMS Invincible’s build was ahead of her time. Her special design, unique lines and 74 gun capacity were copied and her Class became the backbone of the Royal Navy’s fleet right up to the end of the sailing Navy and the beginning of the age of steam, marked in the United Kingdom by the launch of HMS Warrior in 1860. By the Battle of Trafalgar over three-quarters of the Royal Navy’s ships-of-the-line were 74-gun vessels of the French design. The French had invested new technologies in her; whereas most ships of the period were constructed of wood, HMS Invincible was built with 200 iron knees. Later, under the British, she was the first ship to be fitted with an iron hearth to replace the centuries old brick galley and flintlock firing mechanisms were fitted to her guns. In fact, the maintenance of this Class was one of the drivers of the industrialisation of the dockyards and, in turn, for the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom.