High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! HMS Minden was a Royal Navy 74-gun Ganges-class third-rate ship of the line, launched on 19 June 1810. She was named after the German town Minden and the Battle of Minden of 1759, a decisive victory of British and Prussian forces over France in the Seven Years` War. The town is about 75 km away from Hanover, from where the House of Hanover comes—the dynasty which ruled the United Kingdom from 1714 until 1901.