Fine now Richard, and I agree. She would grace anyone's fleet.
Rob.
Fine now Richard, and I agree. She would grace anyone's fleet.
Rob.
Great thread, why I have not seen it before
I echo Kamil, thanks for all your hard work.
Be safe
Rory
Duguay-Trouin.
Part 1 (In French Service.)
Originally named Duguay-Trouin after René Trouin, Sieur du Gué who was a famous Breton corsair of Saint-Malo. He had a brilliant privateering and naval career and eventually became "Lieutenant-General of the Naval Armies of the King."
Construction, to a plan by Rolland but updated to a plan by Sané, began in 1794 but was interrupted in 1795. She was finally laid down in 1797, and launched at Rochefort in 1800.
On 22 November 1802, under Captain Claude Touffet, she departed Toulon as part of a squadron commanded by Commodore Quérangal, also comprising the frigate Guerrière and the flagship Duquesne, a sister Téméraire-class vessel armed en flûte. Bound for Santo Domingo, the squadron found itself blockaded in Cap Français during the Blockade of Saint-Domingue by HMS Elephant, Bellerophon, Theseus and Vanguard. After a successful sortie in the dark, the squadron split up. Guerrière and Duguay-Trouin managed to escape but Vanguard, with Tartar, captured Duquesne.
Under Capitaine de Vaisseau Lhermite she participated in an action at Cap Français.
On 21 October 1805, Duguay-Trouin took part in the Battle of Trafalgar, where she was part of the vanguard of the French fleet under Contre-amiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley, and was one of four French ships that escaped capture that day.
On 3 November 1805, British Captain Sir Richard Strachan, with Caesar, Hero, Courageux, Namur and four frigates, defeated and captured what remained of the Franco-Spanish fleet. In the battle, the captain of Duguay-Trouin, Claude Touffet, was killed, her masts were shot away, and she was eventually captured.
The Royal Navy commissioned her as a third rate under the name HMS Implacable.
Implacable served with the Royal Navy for the rest of the Napoleonic Wars.
Rob.
Last edited by Bligh; 04-09-2016 at 09:59.
Fascinating read. Keep them coming!
Thanks Hugh.
I was just sorry that most of the info available is after her capture. Even her captains had no real portraits done. As for the ship itself, very little.
Rob.
Thank you for the interesting read, Rob, Duguay-Trouin was one of the few SoG ships I've never heard of before!
Duguay-Trouin.
Part 2 (In British Service.)
HMS Implacable.
HMS Implacable was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was originally the French Navy's Téméraire-class ship of the line Duguay-Trouin, launched in 1800.
She survived the Battle of Trafalgar only for the British to capture her at the subsequent Battle of Cape Ortegal.
Capture.
Figurehead of HMS Implacable in Neptune Court of the National Maritime Museum
On 3 November 1805, British Captain Sir Richard Strachan, with Caesar, Hero, Courageux, Namur and four frigates, defeated and captured what remained of the Franco-Spanish fleet. In the battle, the captain of Duguay-Trouin, Claude Touffet, was killed, her masts were shot away, and she was eventually captured.
British service in the Napoleonic Wars
The Royal Navy commissioned her as a third rate under the name HMS Implacable. Implacable served with the Royal Navy for the rest of the Napoleonic Wars.
Anglo-Russian War
In early 1808 Russia initiated the Finnish War in response to Sweden's refusal to bow to Russian pressure to join the anti-British alliance. Russia captured Finland and made it a Grand Duchy under the Russian Empire.
The British decided to take counter-measures and in May sent a fleet, including Centaur, under Vice-Admiral Sir James Saumarez to the Baltic.
Thus in March 1808 Implacable was in the Baltic, under the command of Captain Thomas Byam Martin.
On 9 July, the Russian fleet, under Admiral Peter Khanykov, came out from Kronstadt. The Swedes massed a fleet under Swedish Admiral Cederstrom,
consisting of 11 line-of-battle ships and 5 frigates at Örö and Jungfrusund to oppose them. On 16 August, Saumarez then sent Centaur and Implacable to join the Swedish fleet. They chased two Russian frigates on 19 July and joined the Swedes the following day.
On 22 August, the Russian fleet, which consisted of nine ships of the line, five large frigates and six smaller ones, moved from Hanko and appeared off the Örö roads the next day. The Swedish ships from Jungfur Sound had joined Rear-Admiral Nauckhoff and by the evening of 24 August the combined Anglo-Swedish force had made its preparations. Early the next day they sailed from Örö to meet the Russians
The Anglo-Swedish force discovered the Russians off Hango Udd but the Russians retreated as the Allied ships followed them. Centaur and Implacable exhibited superior sailing and slowly outdistanced their Swedish allies. At 5am on 26 August Implacable caught up with a Russian straggler, the 74-gun Vsevolod (also Sewolod), under Captain Rudnew (or Roodneff).
Implacable and Vsevolod exchanged fire for about 20 minutes before Vsevolod ceased firing. Vsevolod hauled down her colours, but Hood recalled Implacable because the Russian fleet was approaching. During the fight Implacable lost six dead and 26 wounded; Vsevolod lost some 48 dead and 80 wounded.
The Russian frigate Poluks then towed Vsevolod towards Rager Vik (Ragerswik or Rogerswick), but when Centaur started to chase them the frigate dropped her tow.
The Russians sent out boats to bring her in, in which endeavor they almost succeeded. They did succeed in putting 100 men aboard her as reinforcements and to replace her casualties.
However, just outside the port, Centaur was able to collide with Vsevolod. A party of seamen from Centaur then lashed her mizzen to the Russian bowsprit before Centaur opened fire. Vsevolod dropped her anchor and with both ships stuck in place, both sides attempted to board the other vessel. In the meantime, Implacable had come up and added her fire to the melee. After a battle of about half an hour, the Russian vessel struck again.
Implacable hauled Centaur off. Their prize was so firmly aground that after taking out the prisoners and wounded men, Sir Samuel Hood, in Centaur, ordered Vsevolod to be burnt. The British removed their prisoners and then set fire to Vsevolod, which blew up some hours later. Centaur had lost three killed and 27 wounded. Vsevolod lost another 124 men killed and wounded in the battle with Centaur56 Russians escaped by swimming ashore. In all, Vsevolod had lost 303 killed, wounded and missing.
The action with Vsevolod was the largest engagement during the Anglo-Russian War. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with the clasps "Implacable 26 Augt. 1808" and "Centaur 26 Augt. 1808" to all surviving claimants from the action.
An example of the GSM.
Vice-Admiral Saumerez with his entire squadron joined the Anglo-Swedish squadron the next day. They then blockaded Khanykov's squadron for some months. After the British and the Swedes abandoned the blockade, the Russian fleet was able to return to Kronstadt.
Return to the Baltic.
By the summer of 1809 Martin and Implacable were back in the Baltic and Admiral Saumarez sent her and Melpomene to sail east of Nargen Island. At the beginning of July 1809 she and Melpomene sailed into the Gulf of Narva, some 110 miles east of Tallinn. There they captured nine vessels laden with timber, spars and cordage, which were the property of the Russian Emperor. Implacable, Melpomene and Prometheus deployed their boats to search all the creeks and inlets around the gulf, which yielded them three more cargo vessels.More importantly, the British discovered that a convoy was sheltering under Percola Point with an escort of eight gunboats. Each Russian gun-boat mounted both a 32 and a 24-pounder gun, and had a crew of 46 men.The British decided to send in a cutting out party to seize the convoy, and its protectors. In Martin's word, the intent was "to impress these Strangers with that Sense of Respect and Fear, which His Majesty's other Enemies are accustomed to show to the British Flag".
At 9pm on 7 July, Implacable, Melpomene, Prometheus and Bellerophon assembled 17 boats, all under the command of Lieutenant Joseph Hawkey of Implacable.The Russians expected the British attack and positioned their vessels between two rocks off Hango Head (Hangöudde). This meant that the British would have to come straight towards the gunboats' cannon rather than flanking them. The British came straight in, enduring the fire without firing back, until they reached the Russians, at which point they boarded the gunboats.
Of the eight gunboats, the British captured six, among them gun boats Nos. 5, 10, 13, and 15. They sank one gunboat and one escaped. The British also captured all twelve of the ships and vessels the gunboats had been protecting, as well as a large armed ship, which they burnt. These were laden with powder and provisions for the Russian army. British losses were heavy. Grapeshot killed Hawkey while he was boarding his second gunboat. Including Hawkey, Implacable lost six men killed and 17 wounded. In all, the British lost 17 men killed and 37 wounded. The Russians lost at least 65 men killed, and 127 taken prisoner, of whom 51 were wounded. For this action, the Admiralty issued the clasp "7 July Boat Service 1809" to the Naval General Service Medal.
France and Spain.
In January 1810 Captain George Cockburn took command of Implacable. She then sailed to Quiberon Bay with a small squadron that also included Disdainful, a brig and the schooner Nonpareil, all escorting the Baron de Kolli. His mission was to arrange the escape of Ferdinand VII of Spain, whom the French had imprisoned at the Chateau of Valençay. The mission failed when Ferdinand refused to have anything to do with the British, and Kolli was arrested. Implacable then returned to Spithead.
Rear Admiral Sir Richard Keats.
On 17 July Rear Admiral Sir Richard Keats arrived on Implacable to take charge of the British support of the Spanish in the Siege of Cádiz.
Marshal Victor's French army had completely blockaded the Isla de León by land and were further fortifying the coast with works that supplemented the existing defences. Eleven or twelve British and Spanish line-of-battle ships anchored as close to shore as they could without grounding. The allied troops defending Leon consisted of 16,500 Spaniards, 4,000 British and Germans, and 1,400 Portuguese.
In August the Allies attacked the French at Moguer, a town in the province of Huelva. Cockburn, sailing in the brig-sloop Jasper, directed the naval portion of the attack. General Lacey's Spanish troops and horses landed from the transports on 23 August about 22 miles south of the town. They then marched along the beach with 11 flat boats under Lieutenant Westphal of Implacable moving with them. The boats then ferried the troops across a large branch of the river, enabling the troops to reach Moguer next morning. The Spanish took the French somewhat by surprise and drove them out of the town. The French, numbering perhaps 1100 men, rallied and counter-attacked several times, but without success. The Spaniards followed them, but most of the French were cavalry and were able to withdraw towards Seville. Spanish casualties were slight.
Milford arrived in Cadiz on 2 September and Rear Admiral Keats moved to her. On 6 September Implacable sailed from Cadiz to Havana as escort to two Spanish 3-deckers. From there she sailed to Vera Cruz, Mexico, to pick up specie. She returned to Cadiz on 18 February 1811 with 2,000,000 dollars on board. Implacable then participated in the defence of the Isla de Leon. In August Captain I. R. Watson took command. By 1813 Implacable was back in Plymouth.
Post war.
From August to November 1840 Implacable participated in the bombardment and capture of Acre, and operations on the coast of Syria. The Ottoman government awarded medals to the officers and men employed during the campaign. In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Syria" to the officers and men who had participated in the campaign and who claimed the medal.
From the Eastern Mediterranean Implacable sailed to Malta and then spent about a year in the Mediterranean, though she made one trip to Plymouth. She visited Syracuse, Corfu, Gibraltar and Tunis. By 15 February 1842, she was in Devonport, condemned as unfit for sea service. She was to be docked to extend her life.
Post active service.
The old Implacable, by Charles Dixon.
From 1844 she was out of commission at Devonport. A conversion to a training ship permitted her to return to service in June 1855 in the Hamoaze.
Initially she was under the command of Captain Arthur Lowe. In January 1865, under Commander Edward Hay, she became a training ship for boys. Commander Henry Carr took command in October 1877, with Commander Thomas Sturges Jackson following him in 1880.
In 1908 King Edward VII intervened to save the ship. In 1912 she was handed over to philanthropist Geoffrey Wheatley Cobb (died 1931) for preservation, and for use as a boys' training ship. There were several appeals to help preserve Implacable over the years, especially in the 1920s. Funds were raised and she underwent several restorations, which continued in the 1930s. In conjunction with HMS Trincomalee, she served as an accommodation ship, a training ship, a holiday ship and a coal hulk, and the two ships were renamed Foudroyant in 1943.
At Devenport.
H. V. Morton saw her at Devonport Dockyard during one of the restorations and was told she had been "lying for years in Falmouth, and we are giving her a wash and brush up before sending her back as a training ship".
View of Implacable (then renamed Foudroyant) during WWII flying the first part of the historic "England expects..." signal on Trafalgar Day in 1943.
Fate.
Unlike the unfortunate Wellesley, Implacable survived the Second World War. Still, the Admiralty scuttled her by an explosive charge on 2 December 1949.
A fireboat towed her to a spot east of the Isle of Wight and she sank into Saint Catherine's Deep, about five miles from Ventnor. A French warship was in attendance to render honours. Implacable was by then the second oldest ship of the Navy after Victory, and there were heavy protests against her disposal. However, given the post-War austerity the British decided against the cost of her restoration, which was estimated at £150,000 with another £50,000 for re-rigging.
In 1947 they had offered her to the French, who too declined to spend the money to turn her into a museum. Still, her figurehead and stern galleries were saved and are on display in the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, while her capstan is on display at the maritime museum at Rochefort.
Rob.
Last edited by Bligh; 04-11-2016 at 13:19.
Thank you for this detailed history! The photogaph of her being scuttled is a very sad view, at least she was allowed to still fly her flag.
I added it as a special link to Duguay-Trouin in the list.
Just sorry I'm not getting them done more quickly Richard.
I seem to have rather a lot going on at the moment.
Rob.
UPDATE:
I don't want to temt fate but maybe now is the right time to start our first preparations for the Wave 3 ships!
As far as I know, three ships have been officially confirmed, the "Santa Ana", "San Juan Nepomuceno" and the "Horrible old Leopard", they've all been added to the list, plus I started searching for some pictures.
Good move Richard.
If I get some time I will have a look too.
Rob.
With nothing on the Ares website under "forthcoming" I hardly think you're tempting fate. In fact I expect you have all the time in the world.Originally Posted by Torrence
"It's not the towering sails, but the unseen wind that moves a ship."
–English Proverb
HMS Bellona.
HMS Bellona was a 74-gun Bellona-class third-rateship of the line of the Royal Navy. Designed by Sir Thomas Slade, she was a prototype for the iconic 74-gun ships of the latter part of the 18th century. "The design of the Bellona class was never repeated precisely, but Slade experimented slightly with the lines, and the Arrogant, Ramillies, Egmont, and Elizabeth classes were almost identical in size, layout, and structure, and had only slight variations in the shape of the underwater hull. The Culloden class ship of the line was also similar, but slightly larger. Thus over forty ships were near-sisters of the Bellona." Bellona was built at Chatham, starting on 10 May 1758, launched on 19 February 1760, and commissioned three days later. She was the second ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name, and saw service in the Seven Years' War, American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars.
Immediately upon commissioning, HMS Bellona was sent to join the Western Squadron, then blockading Brest and sailed from Chatham on 8th April 1760. At the time, Britain was in the midst of the Seven Years War against France.
HMS Bellona's time with the blockading squadron was uneventful until 13th August 1761. On that day, whilst patrolling off the River Tagus in company with the frigate HMS Brilliant, Bellona spotted the French 74 gun 3rd Rate ship Courageux in company with 2 frigates. The British ships chased the French for 14 hours before catching them and bringing them to action. HMS Brilliant attacked the 2 frigates while HMS Bellona got stuck into the Courageux. Things did not go well for HMS Bellona to start with, she lost her mizzen mast after 9 minutes of fierce combat, but once the wreckage and broken rigging had been cut away, HMS Bellona began to get the better of the French Ship, bringing down the enemy's main and mizzen masts. The British practice of firing into the hull of the enemy ship caused terrible casualties amongst the French crew and by the time the Courageux struck her colours after 2 hours of fighting, half her crew of 600 men were dead or wounded. Bellona on the other hand lost 6 dead with 28 men wounded. The French ship had been severely damaged and was taken into the River Tagus for repairs before being sailed back to the UK and was taken into Royal Navy service. Bellona also made good her own repairs at the same time.
Bellona and Courageux arriving at Spithead by Geoff Hunt
HMS Bellona was paid off in 1762 as the Seven Years War was coming to a close. She was assigned to guardship duties at Portsmouth in 1764 and was kept rigged and armed with a token crew of about 100 men aboard. In 1771, the ship was taken to Chatham and laid up in the Ordinary. This meant that a deckhouse was built over her upper decks and her guns, masts and associated rigging were all removed.
In 1775, the American War of Independance started and by 1778, the Royal Navy began to be mobilised to counter the increasing French intervention in that war. In 1778, the Admiralty ordered that HMS Bellona be refitted for service in the Channel Fleet, so the ship was taken into dock and was given a major refit, which included sheathing her lower hull in copper. The refit also included the replacement of her forecastle guns with the then new carronades.
1. Breech bolt 2. Aft sight 3. Vent hole 4. Front sight 5. First reinforcing ring 6. Barrel 7. Muzzle
8. Second reinforcing ring 9. Azimutal pivot 10. Chock 11. Elevation pivot 12. Wheel 13. Mobile pedestal 14. Carriage 15. Pommel 16. Elevation thread.
. A carronade is a light weight, short range,large calibre gun which vastly increased the short range firepower available to the Royal Navy's ships. The shipwrights model of HMS Bellona had previously been used to demonstrate the principle of coppering to the King. For that reason, the model still exists and is in the collection of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich.
The model of Bellona showing her coppered hull
The stern showing the intricate carving around her stern gallery'.
HMS Bellona was recommissioned into the Grand Fleet and sailed from Chatham on 17th April 1780. On 30th December 1780, in company with the 3rd rate HMS Marlborough, HMS Bellona captured the Dutch 44 gun Frigate Princes Carolina. This ship was taken into the Royal Navy and renamed HMS Princess Caroline. On 12th April 1781, HMS Bellona was part of a fleet of 29 ships of the line under Vice-Admiral George Darby which was escorting 100 supply ships for the Second Relief of Gibraltar. The Spanish, then laying seige to Gibraltar, were unable to stop them.
Vice-Admiral George Darby.
Captain, Richard Onslow
After that, HMS Bellona was reported by her captain, Richard Onslow, to be in poor condition, so between May and July 1781, she was refitted at Portsmouth. After that, until December of that year, the ship was in the North Sea. From December 1781 until 11th September 1782, she was at Portsmouth. On that sate, HMS Bellona sailed as part of a fleet and convoy escort for a further relief of Gibraltar under the command of Vice-Admiral Richard 'Black Dlck' Howe. This fleet had an enormous stroke of luck. Immediately prior to their arrival at Gibraltar, a storm blew up and scattered the Franco-Spanish fleet blockading the harbour and Howe and his fleet were able to enter the harbour unopposed.
Vice-Admiral Richard Howe.
.
After that success, HMS Bellona was ordered to the West Indies. arriving off the Leeward Islands in January 1783. By this time, the American War of Independance (at least on the mainland) had been lost with the surrender General Cornwallis and his army at Yorktown. The French had ceased to be a major threat in the area after the destruction of their fleet by Vice-Admiral Rodney at the Battle of the Saintes in April of 1782. The Treaty of Paris which officially ended the war was under negotiation at the time and the Royal Navy was looking to draw down its fleets. HMS Bellona wasn't in the Caribbean for long. After arriving in January, she returned to Portsmouth on 25th May and was decommissioned and laid up in the Ordinary on 7th June.
HMS Bellona remained in the Ordinary for just over four years. She was commissioned on 3rd October 1787, but paid off again just two months later, on 7th December. At the beginning of 1789, she was re-rigged and re-armed and recommissioned as Guardship at Portsmouth. On 18th August, the ship participated in a Fleet Review and mock battle before sailing with the Grand Fleet the following September. The ship returned to Portsmouth in October 1790 and resumed her guardship duties the following January. In June of 1791, she was part of a fleet mobilised as part of a war scare with Russia. This came to nothing and the ship was again decommissioned, this time at home in Chatham.
In September 1792, there occurred a political event which in the context of the times was cataclysmic. After three years of political turmoil, the people of France deposed their King, Louis XVI and a republic was declared. HMS Bellona was taken into dock and was refitted. She was relaunched on 9th July 1793 and recommissioned at Chatham on the 18th. The new Revolutionary Government in France had declared war on Britain on 1st February and the Royal Navy was recommissioning ships as quickly as possible. HMS Bellona left Chatham on 7th September 1793 to join Howe's Channel Fleet, blockading French ports.
Bellona off Brest by Geoff Hunt.
It didn't take long for HMS Bellona to get into the action. On 7th November 1793, she took part in an unsuccessful chase of a French squadron. HMS Bellona did not take part in the Battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794, but did take part in a chase of one of the surviving French squadrons five days after the battle but again failed to engage the enemy. On 13th October 1794, HMS Bellona was sent to the Caribbean, arriving off Martinique on 14th November.
Over the course of the next three years, HMS Bellona was never far from the action. On 5th January 1795, she took part in an action against a French squadron near Guadeloupe and fought a Spanish squadron on 7th February 1797 off the Caspagarde Islands. In April 1797, she took part in an attack on Puerto Rico. She was sent back to the UK and entered a refit at Portsmouth in October 1797.
Lord St. Vincent.
In May of 1799, HMS Bellona joined the fleet under the command of John Jervis, Lord St. Vincent off San Sebastian. She returned to Torbay in September 1799.
By the turn of the century, Czar Paul of Russia signalled his growing admiration of Napoleon Bonaparte by promising to send his Baltic Fleet to join the French fleet, threatening to put further strain on an already stretched Royal Navy. The Danish, then neutral but favouring the British, had been threatened with invasion if they did not allow the Russians to transit the Skaggerak into the North Sea. This put them in an impossible position, as it did the British. The British sent a fleet under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, known throughout the fleet for some reason as 'Batter Pudding'.
Admiral Sir Hyde Parker.
Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson was his 2nd in command. Their mission was to put the Danish fleet out of the equation and attack Copenhagen.
HMS Bellona joined Hyde Parker's fleet on 18th March 1801. Nelson's mission was to take the smaller ships of the line into Copenhagen and destroy the Danish ships there while Sir Hyde Parker held back with the heavier ships. Bellona was assigned as part of Nelson's force.
Unfotunately, HMS Bellona grounded on a shoal on the way in and was reduced to the part of a helpless spectator as Nelson's ships tore into the Danes. It was during this action on 3rd April 1801 that Sir Hyde Parker signalled Nelson to disengage at the height of the battle. Nelson, knowing that the battle was not yet won raised a telescope to his blind eye and exclaimed "I really do not see the signal" and ordered that the action be continued until the Danes surrendered.
The Battle of Copenhagen: Nelson's British Fleet sails up the Royal Channel to attack the Danish Fleet and the Trekroner Citadel. The 3 British ships aground are to the right: Bellona, Russell and Agamemnon.
On 7th July 1801, HMS Bellona left the Baltic and rejoined the blockading squadron off Cadiz.
Five months later, she was in the Caribbean, but her age and years of hard use were taking their toll on the by now old ship. On 16th March 1802, her Captain, Thomas Bertie reported to the Admiralty from Jamaica that HMS Bellona was 'an old and crazy ship'. As a result, she was ordered back to Britain and on arrival at Portsmouth on 6th July 1802 was decommissioned and placed in the Ordinary.
By 1805, a full-blown invasion scare was under way. The French and Spanish fleets were at sea under the command of the French admiral Villeneuve. The French Army was camped en-masse around the French channel ports. Although Nelson, by now flying his flag in Victory was in hot pursuit, the Royal navy was desperately short of ships and every available ship, even old crazy ones like HMS Bellona were being dragged back into service. On 3rd April 1805, Bellona was docked at Portsmouth and was fitted with the Snodgrass System of internal diagonal bracing, to stiffen her old and tired frames. She was relaunched at Portsmouth on 26th June 1805.
In October 1805, after having missed the main event at Trafalgar, she was assigned to a squadron of five ships of the line under Captain Sir Richard Strachan. Unfortunately, she became separated from his force and missed the Battle of Cape Ortegal on 4th November 1805 when Strachan's force found and captured a group of French survivors of the Battle of Trafalgar.
She later reurned to Plymouth and departed there on 19th May 1806 bound for Barbados. On 14th September 1806, whilst in company with HMS Belle Isle (74) and HMS Melampus (36) off Cape Henry, Virginia, she sighted the French 74 gun ship Impétueux, sailing under a jury rig after having been dismasted in a hurricane. The French ship was desperately searching for an American port to put into. Rather then face an unequal fight against the British, the French commander chose to run his ship ashore. Despite the fact that the French ship was now aground on American soil, the Melampus opened fire anyway. This was followed up by a boat attack with boats from both Bellona and Belle Isle carrying men ashore to capture the French vessel. Impétueux was later ordered to be burned.
In July 1807, HMS Bellona was involved in an incident in Hampton Roads concerning the impressment of American seamen into the Royal Navy. This was a major bone of contention between the Americans and the British at the time. Deserters from the Royal Navy had found that if they managed to get aboard an American ship, they could claim asylum and be offered US Citizenship. This led the Royal Navy to stop and search American ships at sea for deserters and press anyone who was unable to prove American citizenship into British service. This practice was one of the causes of the 1812 war between Britain and the USA.
On 7th March 1808, HMS Bellona was part of the fleet which failed to get into the harbour at Basque Roads. The battle of Basque Roads ended up as a British victory anyway, despite the fact that the fleet could not engage the enemy as fireships were sent in. In the ensuing chaos, many French ships drifted ashore or onto rocks and were destroyed by long-range gunfire from smaller ships and by raiding parties.
In July 1809, she took part in the unsuccessful Walcheren Campaign where a marshy island in the Scheldt Estuary was invaded by elements of the British Army.
On 18th December 1810, Bellona took part in the capture of the french privateer L'Heros du Nord.
1811 and 1812 and most of 1813 saw HMS Bellona employed in blockading Dutch ports, apart from a trip to St Helena in the Atlantic Ocean in May 1813. In September 1813, she returned to the Basque Roads but was back on blockade duty off Cherbourg by October.
By 1814, the naval element of the Napoleonic War was over and the Royal navy was again looking to draw down its fleets. HMS Bellona arrived back home at Chatham on 4th February 1814. On 19th July 1814, Bellona was docked at Chatham for the last time and was broken up in dock during September 1814.
HMS Bellona's career had encompassed some of the most turbulent years of Britains history. She had been in service throught the period in which the 74 gun 3rd Rate had formed the backbone of the Royal Navy's fleets. She was one of the longest serving ships in the navy of the time, being 54 years old when her career finally came to an end. Her career saw the establishment of the Royal Navy as the dominant armed force in the world, one which gave Britain total control of the worlds oceans and maritime trade routes for a century, until the outbreak of the First World War.
She was the subject of the book 'Anatomy of the Ship - the 74 Gun Ship HMS Bellona' (ISBN 0-85177-368-0), which gives exact details and scale drawings of her design. This in turn has led to HMS Bellona being the subject of many beautiful model kits now available. here's a picture of one of the many models available:
The ship has also appeared in fiction, appearing in Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey novels 'The Commodore' and 'The Yellow Admiral', starring as the ship in which Aubrey flies his Broad Pennant.
Class and type: Bellona-class74-gunship of the line Tons burthen: 1615 bm Length: 168 ft (51 m) (gundeck), 138 ft (42 m) (keel) Beam: 46 ft 11 in (14.30 m) Draught: 21 ft 6 in (6.55 m) Depth of hold: 19 ft 9 in (6.02 m) Propulsion: Sails Sail plan: Full rigged ship Complement: 650 officers and men Armament: Lower gundeck: 28 × 32 pounder guns
Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pounder guns
QD: 14 × 9 pounder guns
Fc: 4 × 9 pounder guns
Rob.
Last edited by Bligh; 06-14-2016 at 09:02.
The Orient.
The Orient was an Océan-class 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, famous for her role as flagship of the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798, and for her spectacular destruction that day when her magazines detonated. The event was commemorated by numerous paintings and poems.
Orient in Toulon.
The ship was laid down in Toulon, and launched on 20 July 1791 under the name Dauphin Royal. In September 1792, after the advent of the French First Republic, and not yet commissioned, she was renamed Sans-Culotte, in honour of the Sans-culottes.
Battle of Genoa 1795.
On 14 March 1795, she took part in the Battle of Genoa as flagship of rear-admiral Martin.
Rear-admiral Martin.
She covered the rear of the French line, exchanging fire with HMS Bedford and HMS Egmont, but lost contact with her fleet during the night and was thus prevented from taking further part in the action. In May 1795, Sans-Culotte was again renamed as a consequence of the Thermidorian Reaction, and took her best-known name of Orient.
Admiral Brueys
In 1798, Orient was appointed flagship of the squadron tasked with the invasion of Egypt, under Admiral Brueys, with captain Casabianca as his flag officer.
Bust of Captain Casabianca
Orient also ferried the chiefs of the Armée d'Égypte, notably general Bonaparte. The fleet avoided the British blockade and captured Malta before landing troops in Egypt. Afterwards, it anchored in a bay east of Alexandria, in a purportedly strong defensive position. Nelson's squadron discovered the fleet on 1 August, and he attacked the next day, starting the Battle of the Nile. Nelson had his units sail between the shore and the French ships at anchor, picking them one by one in a cross-fire. Orient eventually came under fire from five ships, caught fire and exploded spectacularly at 22:30.
The number of casualties is disputed: the British reported 70 survivors, reflecting the numbers they rescued aboard their ships, and inferring considerable losses over the 1130-man complement; however, the crew was far from complete at the time of the battle and a number of survivors might have been picked up by French ships. Contre-amiral Decrès reported as many as 760 survivors. The explosion is also often presented as a turning point of the battle; as a matter of fact, the battle was won by the British when their reinforcements arrived at nightfall, and the interruption of the fighting was brief after the explosion.
The explosion of Orient struck the public of the time, both because of its historical signification and of its spectacular aesthetics. Its romantic load was compounded by the presence aboard of Captain Casabianca's young son, who died in the wreck; this particular detail inspired Felicia Hemans's poem Casabianca:
The boy stood on the burning deck
Whence all but he had fled;
The flame that lit the battle's wreck
Shone round him o'er the dead
Shortly after the battle, Nelson was presented with a coffin carved from a piece of the main mast of Orient, which had been taken back to England for this purpose; he was put inside this coffin after his death at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Hull form of Ocean Class ships.
General characteristics
Displacement:
5 095 tonnes
Length:
65.18 m (213.8 ft) (196,6 French feet)
Beam:
16.24 m (53.3 ft) (50 French feet)
Draught:
8.12 m (26.6 ft) (25 French feet)
Propulsion:
sail, 3 265 m²
Complement:
1 079 men
Armament:
- 120 guns:
- lower deck: 32 36-pounder guns
- [1]
- middle deck: 34 24-pounder guns
- upper deck: 34 12-pounder guns
- Quarterdeck and Forecastle:
- 18 × 8-pounder guns, 6 × 36-pounder carronades
Armour:
Wood
Rob.
Last edited by Bligh; 06-15-2016 at 09:33.
Thank you for the very nice articles (and the small excursus about carronades), both have been linked to the list.
And finally we got a good picture of the Orient before she started catching fire!
Thank you Rob for this short report about one of my favourits Napoleonic ships.
(I have to spread rep points first...)
Glad you both liked it.
You are right Richard, it is very hard to find a picture of Orient either not on fire or exploding.
Rob.
HMS Royal Sovereign.
Royal Sovereign was a 100-gun first rateship of the line of the Royal Navy, which served as the flagship of AdmiralCollingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar. She was the third of seven Royal Navy ships to bear the name. Designed by Sir Edward Hunt, she was launched at Plymouth Dockyard on 11 September 1786, at a cost of £67,458, and was the only ship built to her draught. She was known by her crew as the "West Country Wagon" due to her poor maneuverability and speed.
Royal Sovereign was part of Admiral Howe's fleet at the Glorious First of June, where she suffered 14 killed and 41 wounded.
Vice-Admiral William Cornwallis.
On 16 June 1795, as the flagship of Vice-Admiral William Cornwallis, she was involved in the celebrated episode known as 'Cornwallis' Retreat'.
Trafalgar.
The first ship of the fleet in action at Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, she led one column of warships; Nelson's Victory led the other. Due to the re-coppering of her hull prior to her arrival off Cádiz, Royal Sovereign was a considerably better sailer in the light winds present that day than other vessels, and pulled well ahead of the rest of the fleet.
Royal Sovereign approaches the French line.
Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood.
As she cut the enemy line alone and engaged the Spanish three decker Santa Ana, Nelson pointed to her and said, 'See how that noble fellow Collingwood carries his ship into action!'
Captain Edward Rotheram
At approximately the same moment, Collingwood remarked to his captain, Edward Rotheram, 'What would Nelson give to be here?'
Royal Sovereign rakes Santa Ana.
Royal Sovereign and Santa Ana duelled for much of the battle, with Santa Ana taking fire from fresh British ships passing through the line, including HMS Mars and HMS Tonnant, while nearby French and Spanish vessels fired on Royal Sovereign. Santa Ana struck at 14:15, having suffered casualties numbering 238 dead and wounded after battling Royal Sovereign and HMS Belleisle.
The Royal Sovereign lost her mizzen and mainmasts, her foremast was badly damaged and much of her rigging was shot away. At 2.20 pm Santa Ana finally struck to Royal Sovereign. Shortly afterwards a boat came from Victory carrying Lieutenant Hill, who reported that Nelson had been wounded. Realising that he might have to take command of the rest of the fleet and with his ship according to his report being "perfectly unmanageable", by 3 pm he signalled for the frigateEuryalus to take Royal Sovereign in tow. Euryalus towed her round to support the rest of the British ships with her port-side guns, and became engaged with combined fleet's van under Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley, as it came about to support the collapsing centre. Fire from the lead ships shot away the cable between the Royal Sovereign and the Euryalus, and the latter ship made off towards Victory. Royal Sovereign exchanged fire with the arriving ships, until Collingwood rallied several relatively undamaged British ships around Royal Sovereign, and Dumanoir gave up any attempt to recover some of the prizes, and made his escape at 4.30pm.
Captain Henry Blackwood.
At 4.40 pm one of Victory's boats, carrying Captain Henry Blackwood and Lieutenant Hill, came alongside and Blackwood reported Nelson's death to Collingwood.
This left Collingwood in command of the fleet, and with a storm rising, and disregarding Nelson's final order to bring the fleet to anchor, Collingwood ordered Blackwood to hoist the signal to all ships to come to the wind on the starboard tack, and to take disabled and captured ships in tow. Royal Sovereign was by now almost or totally unmanageable and virtually uninhabitable.
As she had most of her masts shot away she could not make signals.
Having his ship too much disabled by enemy fire at just before of 6 pm Collingwood, who had succeeded Nelson in command of the fleet had to transfer himself and his flag to the frigate Euryalus, while Euryalus sent a cable across and took Royal Sovereign in tow for second time. At the end of the action Collingwood signalled from the frigate to the rest of the fleet to prepare to anchor. HMS Neptune took over the tow on 22 October, and was replaced by HMS Mars on 23 October. Royal Sovereign had lost one lieutenant, her master, one lieutenant of marines, two midshipman, 29 seamen, and 13 marines killed, and two lieutenants, one lieutenant of marines, one master's mate, four midshipman, her boatswain, 69 seamen, and 16 marines wounded.
Royal Sovereign emerging from Plymouth after her refit.
Royal Sovereign returned to duty in the Mediterranean the next year and remained on the blockade of Toulon until November 1811, when she was ordered to return home to the Channel Fleet. In 1812 and 1813 she was under the command of Rear Admiral James Bissett serving under Admiral Keith.
She was credited with the capture on 5 August 1812 of the American ship Asia, of 251 tons, which had been sailing from St. Mary's to Plymouth with a cargo of timber. Royal Sovereign shared the proceeds of the capture with all the vessels in Keith's squadron, suggesting that what happened was that Asia sailed into Plymouth unaware that the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States had broken out and was seized as she arrived, the formal credit going to the flagship. After her useful active life she was converted to harbour service as a receiving ship at Plymouth before being renamed HMS Captain on 17 August 1825. Hulked in June 1826, Captain was finally broken up at Plymouth, with work being completed on 28 August 1841. Four of her guns were saved and are incorporated in the Collingwood Memorial in Tynemouth.
Class and type:
100-gun first rateship of the line
Tons burthen:
2175 (bm)
Length:
183 ft 10 1⁄2 in (56.0 m) (gundeck)
Beam:
52 ft 1 in (15.88 m)
Depth of hold:
22 ft 2 1⁄2 in (6.8 m)
Propulsion:
Sails
Sail plan:
Full rigged ship
Armament:
- Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
- Middle gundeck: 28 × 24-pounder guns
- Upper gundeck: 30 × 12-pounder guns
- QD: 10 × 12-pounder guns
- Fc: 4 × 12-pounder guns
Rob.
Last edited by Bligh; 06-23-2016 at 01:46.
Royal Sovereign has been added, thank you, Rob.
"West Country Wagon"? Very interesting cognomen, haven't heard that one before!
I nearly left it out, but it was also new to me, so I felt it needed an airing.
Once again for such an important ship it has precious few Paintings except for Trafalgar.
Rob.
HMS Berwick/Le Berwick (1775)
Battle of Ushant (1778)
HMS Berwick was a 74-gun Elizabeth-classthird rate of the Royal Navy, launched at Portsmouth Dockyard on 18 April 1775, to a design by Sir Thomas Slade. She fought the French at the Battle of Ushant (1778) and the Dutch at the Battle of Dogger Bank (1781). The French captured her in the Action of 8 March 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars and she served with them with some success then and at the start of the Napoleonic Wars until the British recaptured her at the Battle of Trafalgar. Berwick sank shortly thereafter in a storm.
Royal Navy service.
As one of the newest ships of the line, she was commissioned in December 1777. On the entry of France into the American War of Independence in 1778 Berwick joined the Channel Fleet. In July, she took part in the Battle of Ushant under the command of Captain the Hon. Keith Stewart.
Captain the Hon. Keith Stewart.
She served with the Channel Fleet throughout 1779.
In 1780 she was sent out to the West Indies as part of a squadron under Commodore Walshingham that was sent out to reinforce the fleet under Sir George Rodney. But Walshingham's ships arrived too late for the battles of that year and she was then sent to Jamaica. The lieutenant on this trip was John Hunter who later became an admiral and the second Governor of New South WalesWhile Berwick was on the Jamaica station, she received serious damage from the October 1780 West Indies hurricane, which completely dismasted her and drove her out to sea. The damage forced her to return across the Atlantic to England for repairs. After repairs, the Berwick sailed to the North Sea where Captain Stewart became commander in chief of the station. The North Sea was becoming an increasingly important convoy route because French and Spanish squadrons cruising in the Western Approaches to the Channel had made that route unsafe for British convoys. In 1781 Berwick was under the command of Captain John Ferguson. On 17 April she, with Belle Poule, captured the privateer Calonne, under the command of Luke Ryan.
Belle Poule.
Calonne was only two years old, a fast sailer, and well equipped for a voyage of three months and a crew of 200 men. She was armed with twenty-two 9-pounder guns, six 4-pounder guns and six 12-pounder carronades.
When the British Admiralty received news that the Dutch, who had joined the war at the beginning of 1781, were fitting out a squadron for service in the North Sea, it reinforced the Berwick with a squadron under Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, who had hoisted his flag in Fortitude. Berwick also received two 68-pounder carronades for her poop deck. On 15 August, while escorting a convoy of 700 merchantmen from Leith to the Baltic, Parker's squadron of seven ships of the line met a Dutch squadron under Rear-Admiral Johan Zoutman, also consisting of seven ships of the line, and also encumbered with a convoy. In the ensuing Battle of Dogger Bank, Berwick suffered a total of 16 killed and 58 wounded.
Berwick at the Battle of the Dogger Bank.
After the war, Berwick was paid off in 1783 and laid up in ordinary.She was commissioned again on 1 January 1793 under Captain Sir John Collins. At the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars he sailed her out for the Mediterranean on 22 May to join the fleet under Admiral Lord Hood. Under Hood, Berwick participated in Toulon operations late in the year.
Collins died in March 1794. His successors were, in short order, Captains William Shield, George Campbell, George Henry Towry, and lastly, William Smith.
Capture
Action of 8 March 1795.
In early 1795 Berwick had been refitting in San Fiorenzo Bay, Corsica, when her lower masts, stripped of rigging, rolled over the side and were lost. A hasty court martial dismissed Smith, the First Lieutenant, and the Master from the ship. After fitting a jury rig, Berwick, under Captain Adam Littlejohn, sailed to join the British fleet at Leghorn, but ran into the French fleet. The ensuing engagement on the morning of 8 March resulted in the French capturing Berwick.
French frigate Alceste
At 11 am, close off Cap Corse, the French frigate Alceste passed to leeward and opened fire within musket-shot on Berwick's lee bow. Minerve and Vestale soon took their stations on Berwick's quarter. By noon, her rigging was cut to pieces and every sail was in ribbons. During the battle four sailors were wounded and a bar-shot decapitated Littlejohn; he was the only man killed.
Command then devolved upon Lieutenant Nesbit Palmer, who consulted with the other officers. Palmer decided that Berwick was unable to escape in her disabled state and that all further resistance was useless; he then ordered that Berwick strike her colours.
The French towed her back to Toulon and subsequently commissioned her into the French Navy as Berwick, under Louis-Jean-Nicolas Lejoille.
Louis-Jean-Nicolas Lejoille.
French Navy service.
Rear-Admiral de Richery.
In September 1795, she sailed from Toulon for Newfoundland as part of a squadron of six ships of the line under Rear-Admiral de Richery. In October, Richery's squadron fell in with the British Smyrna convoy, taking 30 out of 31 ships, and retaking the 74-gun Censeur. The squadron then put into Cádiz, where it remained refitting for the remainder of the year.
On 4 August 1796, Richery finally set sail from Cádiz for North America with his seven ships of the line. His squadron was escorted out into the Atlantic by the Spanish Admiral Don Juan de Lángara, with 20 ships of the line. In September, Richery destroyed the British Newfoundland fishing fleet.
In November, Berwick returned to Rochefort with four of the other ships from Richery's squadron, before sailing on to Brest.
By 1803, Berwick was back in the Mediterranean at Toulon.
Napoleonic Wars.
In March 1805, Berwick sailed for the West Indies as part of a fleet of 11 French ships of the line under Vice-Admiral Villeneuve. Off Cádiz, the fleet was joined by the 74-gun ship Aigle, and six Spanish ships of the line under Vice-Admiral Gravina.
When the fleet reached the West Indies, Villeneuve sent Commodore Cosmao-Kerjulien with the Pluton and the Berwick to attack the British position on Diamond Rock, which surrendered on 2 June.
Commodore Cosmao-Kerjulien.
Action at Diamond Rock.
When Villeneuve heard that Nelson had followed him to the West Indies, he sailed for Europe. Sir Robert Calder, with 15 ships of the line, intercepted the French off Cape Finisterre. After a violent artillery exchange, the fleets separated in the fog. Exhausted after six months at sea, the French anchored in Ferrol before sailing to Cádiz to rest and refit. With his command under question and wanting to meet the British fleet to gain a decisive victory, Villeneuve left Cádiz to meet the British fleet near Cape Trafalgar.
Vice-Admiral Villeneuve.
Fate.
On 21 October 1805, Berwick fought at the battle of Trafalgar, where Achille re-captured her. Berwick sank near Sanlúcar in the tempest the following day after her French prisoners cut her cables. Although Donegal was nearby and quickly sent boats, many aboard Berwick (c.200 persons), lost their lives.
History
Name:
HMS Berwick
Ordered:
12 December 1768
Builder:
Portsmouth Dockyard
Laid down:
May 1769
Launched:
18 April 1775
Captured:
8 March 1795, by the French
Notes:
Name:
Berwick
Acquired:
8 March 1795
Honours and
awards:
Battle of Trafalgar
Captured:
21 October 1805, by Royal Navy
Fate:
Wrecked, 22 October 1805, in the storm following the Battle of Trafalgar
General characteristics
Class and type:
Elizabeth-classship of the line
Tons burthen:
1622 56⁄94 (bm)
Length:
168 ft 6 in (51.36 m) (gundeck)
Beam:
47 ft (14 m)
Draught:
- Unladen:18 ft (5.5 m)
- Laden:47 ft (14 m)
Depth of hold:
12 ft 10 in (3.91 m)
Propulsion:
Sails
Sail plan:
Full rigged ship
Armament:
Rob.
Added the Berwick, thanks again!
[QUOTE=Bligh;62750]HMS Royal Sovereign.
Royal Sovereign was a 100-gun first rateship of the line of the Royal Navy, which served as the flagship of AdmiralCollingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar. She was the third of seven Royal Navy ships to bear the name. Designed by Sir Edward Hunt, she was launched at Plymouth Dockyard[COLOR=#000000] on 11 September 1786, at a cost of £67,458, and was the only ship built to her draught. She was known by her crew as the "West Country Wagon" due to her poor maneuverability and speed.
Hey Rob, this first picture is the "Sovereign of the Seas", launched in 1637. She was later renamed Royal Sovereign, and was ahead of her time, but didn't make it to the 18th century.
That's google for you.
Rob.
My pleasure Richard.
More will follow.
Rob.
Océan / Montagne.
Océan was a 118-gun first-rate three-decker ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was funded by a don des vaisseaux donation from the Estates of Bourgogne.
She was ordered as États de Bourgogne and was launched at Brest in 1790. Like many French ships of the line during the Revolutionary period, she was renamed several times, becoming Côte d'Or in January 1793, Montagne in October 1793, Peuple on 17 May 1795, and a matter of weeks later again renamed, to Océan. She served until 1855
.
A large model at the 1/16 scale can be seen at the Musée de la Marine in Paris.
Rear-Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse
As the largest ship of the line in the Brest fleet, the ship spent much of her early career as the fleet flagship.
As Montagne, the ship was the flagship of Rear-Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse in the Combat de Prairial (known in English literature as the Glorious First of June) in 1794.
Combat de Prairial
She was badly damaged by the HMS Royal Sovereign, losing 313 men and receiving 233 round shots in her hull.
On 17 May 1795, she was renamed Peuple; a month later, on the 23 of June she fought in the Battle of Groix as Villaret's flagship.
Peuple at the Battle of Groix.
The Battle of Groix was a large naval engagement which took place off the island of Groix on the Biscay coast of Brittany on 23 June 1795 (5 messidor an III) during the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle was fought between elements of the British Channel Fleet and the French Atlantic Fleet, which were both cruising in the region on separate missions. The British fleet, commanded by Admiral Lord Bridport was covering an invasion convoy carrying a French Royalist army to invade Quiberon, while the French under Vice-Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse had sailed a week earlier to rescue a French convoy from attack by a British squadron.
Admiral Lord Bridport
The French fleet had driven off the British squadron in a battle on 17 June known as Cornwallis's Retreat, and were attempting to return to their base at Brest when Bridport's force of 14 ships of the line appeared on 22 June.
Villaret, believing that the stronger British fleet would destroy his own 12 ships of the line, ordered his force to fall back to the inshore anchorage off Groix, hoping to take shelter in the protected coastal waters. Several of his ships were too slow however, falling behind so that early in the morning of 23 June the rearmost ships of his fleet were caught by the British vanguard, overhauled one by one and brought to battle. Although Villaret fought a determined rearguard action, three French ships were captured, all with very heavy casualties, and the remainder of the French fleet was left scattered across miles of coastline. In this position they were highly vulnerable to continued British attack, but after only a few hours engagement, concerned that his ships might be wrecked on the rocky coastline, Bridport called off the action and allowed Villaret to regroup inshore and retreat to Lorient.
Although the battle was a British victory, there was criticism of Bridport's rapid withdrawal. British historians have subsequently considered that a unique opportunity to destroy the French Atlantic fleet had been lost. The invasion at Quiberon ended in disaster a month later, although Bridport remained at sea in the region until September. The French fleet by contrast was trapped in the port of Lorient where food supplies ran out, forcing Villaret to discharge many of his ships' crews. As a result, most ships did not return to Brest until the winter and were consequently unable to threaten British control of the French coastline for the remainder of the year. Several French captains were court-martialed following the battle, with two dismissed from the Navy for disobeying orders.
As of the 30th of May Montagne was renamed Océan.
She was refitted in Brest in 1797.
In 1801, she once again served as Villaret's flagship, ferrying troops of Leclerc's expedition to Saint-Domingue.
Leclerc
Océan was Allemand's flagship at the Battle of the Basque Roads.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle...e_Basque_Roads
She was decommissioned on 2 August 1850, and used as a floating artillery battery from May 1851.
Class and type:
Océan class ship of the line
Displacement:
2 700 tonnes
Length:
65.18 m (213.8 ft) (196,6 French feet)
Beam:
16.24 m (53.3 ft) (50 French feet)
Draught:
8.12 m (26.6 ft) (25 French feet)
Propulsion:
sail, 3 265 m²
Complement:
1 079 men
Armament:
- Lower deck:
- lower deck: 32 36-pounder guns
- middle deck: 34 24-pounder guns
- upper deck: 34 12-pounder guns
- forecastle: 18 8-pounder guns, 6 36-pounder carronades
Rob.
One of my personal favourites among the Frenchmen, thank you, Rob.
Update: All ships of the current Wave have been added. Feel free to share your pictures!
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