Third Rate ships of 74 guns.

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HMS Captain (1787)




HMS Captain was a modified Canada Class74-gun third-rateship of the line ordered on the 14th of November,1782 and designed by William Batley. M/shipwright Robert Batson. She was launched on the 26th of November,1787 at Limehouse.

History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Captain
Ordered:	14 November 1782
Builder:	Batson, Limehouse Yard
Laid down:	May 1784
Launched:	26 November 1787
Honours and awards:	Participated in: Battle of Genoa Battle of Cape St Vincent
Fate:	Burned and broken up, 1813
General characteristics
Class and type:	Canada classthird rateship of the line
Tons burthen:	​1638 63⁄94 (bm)
Length:	170 ft (52 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	46 ft 9 in (14.25 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Complement:	550 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

Captain was fitted out at various venues from Deptford to Woolwich and finally commissioned at Plymouth on the 24th of September, 1790 under Captain Archibald Dickson for the Spanish Armament.
She served during both the French revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

French Revolutionary Wars.

In the January of 1793 she sailed for the med under Captain Samuel Reeve, and joined Hood's fleet. She was with part of the Mediterranean fleet which occupied Toulon at the invitation of the Royalists in 1793 before being driven out by Revolutionary troops in an action where Napoleon Bonaparte made his name. During this operation Captain was deployed in the Raid on Genoa. On the 17th of October she was present at the capture of the French 36 gun La Modeste. In 1795 under Captain Thomas Seacombe, and later that year under Captain John Samuel Smith.
In June 1796, Admiral Sir John Jervis transferred Captain Horatio Nelson from HMS Agamemnon into Captain. Jervis appointed Nelson commodore of a squadron that was first deployed off Livorno during Napoleon's march through northern Italy.
In the September of 1796, Gilbert Elliot, the British viceroy of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom, decided that it was necessary to clear out Capraja, which belonged to the Genoese and which served as a base for privateers. He sent Nelson, in Captain, together with the transport Gorgon, Vanneau, the cutter Rose, and troops of the 51st Regiment of Foot to accomplish this task in September. On their way, Minerva joined them. The troops landed on the 18th of September and the island surrendered immediately. Later that month Nelson oversaw the British withdrawal from Corsica.
In the February of 1797, Nelson had rejoined Jervis's fleet 25 miles west of Cape St. Vincent at the southwest tip of Portugal, just before it intercepted a Spanish fleet on the 14th of February. The Battle of Cape St Vincent made both Jervis's and Nelson's names. Jervis was made Earl St Vincent and Nelson was knighted for his initiative and daring.
Nelson had realized that the leading Spanish ships were escaping and wore Captain to break out of the line of battle to attack the much larger Spanish ships. Captain exchanged fire with the Spanish flagship, Santísima Trinidad, which mounted 136 guns on four decks. Later Captain closely engaged the 80-gun San Nicolas, when the Spanish ship was disabled by a broadside from Excellent and ran into another ship, the San Josef of 112-guns. With Captain hardly maneuverable, Nelson ran his ship alongside San Nicolas, which he boarded. Nelson was preparing to order his men to board San Josef next when she signaled her intent to surrender. The boarding of San Nicolas, which resulted in the taking of the two larger ships was later immortalized as 'Nelson's Patent Bridge for Boarding First Rates.


HMS Captain capturing the San Nicolas and the San Josef at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, 14 February 1797

Captain was the most severely damaged of the British ships as she was in the thick of the action for longer than any other ship. She returned to service following repairs and on the 6th of May,1799 sailed for the Mediterranean under Captain Sir Richard Strachan, where she joined Captain John Markham's squadron.
After the Battle of Alexandria, the squadron under Contre-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée, consisting of the 40-gun Le Junon, 36-gun Alceste, 32-gun La Courageuse, 18-gun La Salamine and the brig L'Alerte escaped to Genoa.
On the 17 of June of that year, the French squadron, still under Perrée, was en route from Jaffa for Toulon when it encountered the British squadron under Markham in Centaur. In the ensuing Action of the 18th of June, 1799, the British captured the entire French squadron, with Captain capturing L'Alerte. Markham described L'Alerte as a brig of 14 guns and 120 men, under the command of Lieutenant Dumay.
In the August of 1800, Captain joined Warren's squadron at Ferrol. On the 23rd of November of that year, Captain Sir Richard Strachan in Captain chased a French convoy in to the Morbihan where it sheltered under the protection of shore batteries and the 20-gun corvette Réolaise. Magicienne was able to force the corvette onto the shore at Port Navalo, though she got off again. The hired armed cutter Suworow then towed in four boats with Lieutenant Hennah of Captain and a cutting-out party of seamen and marines. The hired armed cutters Nile and Lurcher towed in four more boats from Magicienne. Although the cutting-out party landed under heavy fire of grape and musketry, it was able to set the corvette on fire; shortly thereafter she blew up. Only one British seaman, a crewman from Suworow, was killed. However, Suworow's sails and rigging were so badly cut up that Captain had to take her under tow. A French report of the action stated that Captain Duclos, seeing the approach of the British, ran Réolaise on shore and burnt her.
Between the September of 1801 and the October of 1802 Captain was statione at Jamaica in the Caribbean under the command of Captain Charles Boyle, before returning to England for a refit at Plymouth.

Napoleonic Wars.

Recommissioned in the June of 1805 under Captain George Stephens, she was again paid off in the March of 1806 for yet another refit at Portsmouth. After recommissioning in the May of 1806 she served under Captain George Cockburn at the blockade of Brest.
In 1807 it had been one of the escorts for the expedition leaving Falmouth that would eventually attack Buenos Aires. Turned back north once the expedition reached the Cape Verde Islands.
In the July of that year Captain Isaac Wooley took command and proceeded in Captain on the Copenhagen expedition during August, then on to the occupation of Madeira on the 26th of December. In 1808 she was in the Leeward Islands under Captain Edward Rushworth and by the end of that year Captain James Wood. Captain shared with Amaranthe, Pompee, and Morne Fortunee in the prize money pool of £772 3s 3d for the capture of Frederick on the 30th of December. This money was not paid out until the June of 1829.
Captain took part in the capture of Martinique in the February of 1809. In the April of that year, a strong French squadron arrived at the Îles des Saintes, south of Guadeloupe. There they were blockaded until the 14th, when a British force under Major-General Frederick Maitland invaded and captured the islands. Captain was among the naval vessels that shared in the proceeds of the capture of the islands.
In July she returned to England under Captain Christopher Nesham, and was paid off in December.

Fate.

Fitted as a receiving ship at Plymouth where her diagonal braces were removed in the December of that same year of 1807.
Captain was put into harbour service. On 22 March 1813, she was accidentally burned in the Hamoaze, off Plymouth. At the time, she was undergoing conversion to a sheer hulk. When it was clear that the fire, which had begun in the forecastle, had taken hold, her securing lines were cut and she was towed a safe distance away from the other vessels so that she could burn herself out. Even so, orders were given that she be sunk. Ships' launches with carronades then commenced a one-hour bombardment. She finally foundered after having burned down to the waterline. Two men died in the accident. The wreck was raised in July and broken up.

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HMS Carnatic (1783)

HMS Carnatic ordered on the 14th of July, 1779 was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line . She was the first of her class modeled on the lines of the captured French ship Courageux. M/shipwrights Henry Adams and William Barnard. Carnatic was launched on the 21st of January, 1783 at Deptford Wharf. The British East India Company paid for her construction and presented her to the Royal Navy.



HMS Carnatic off Plymouth, 18 August 1789

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Carnatic
Ordered:	14 July 1779
Builder:	Dudman, Deptford Wharf
Laid down:	March 1780
Launched:	21 January 1783
Renamed:	HMS Captain, 1815
Fate:	Broken up, 1825
General characteristics
Class and type:	Carnatic-class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1719​30⁄94 (bm)
Length:	172 ft 4 1⁄2 in (52.5 m) (gundeck); 1,140 ft 3 1⁄2 in (347.6 m) (keel)
Beam:	48 ft 0 in (14.6 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft 9 1⁄2 in (6.337 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

Carnatic was commissioned in the March of 1783 under Captain Anthony Malloy as a guard ship at Chatham until 1785. and then in the same role at Plymouth. From the April of 1786 she was under Captain Peregrine Bertie, and fitted for channel service in 1789 under Captain John Ford for the Spanish armament.

From the August of 1890 she served as the Flagship of Rear Admiral John Jervis. She then had another period as guardship at Plymouth until 1797 when she was recommissioned under Captain Henry Jenkins and served as the Flagship to Rear Admiral Charles Pole.


HMS Carnatic's Figurehead.

In the May of 1796 she sailed for the Leeward Islands and in 1798, whilst stationed at Jamaica, was commanded by Captain George Bowen and then in 1799 Captain John Loring.

By 1802 she was under the command of Captain Charles Penrose as Flagship to Rear Admiral Robert Montague.

Fitted as a temporary receiving ship in 1805 at Plymouth she remained in ordinary there from1812 until 1815.

On the17th of May, 1815, the Admiralty renamed her HMS Captain.

Captain was broken up on the 30th of September, 1825.

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HMS Colossus (1787)




HMS Colossus was a 74-gun Carnatic Class third-rateship of the line ordered on the 13th of December 1781. She was built by M/ shipwright William Cleverley, and was launched at Gravesend on the 4th of April, 1787.

History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Colossus
Ordered:	13 December 1781
Builder:	Clevely, Gravesend
Laid down:	October 1782
Launched:	4 April 1787
Fate:	Wrecked, 10 December 1798
Notes:	·Participated in: ·Battle of Groix ·Battle of Cape St Vincent
General characteristics
Class and type:	Carnatic-classship of the line
Tons burthen:	1703 bm
Length:	172 ft 3 in (52.50 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 9 in (14.55 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft 9 1⁄2 in (6.3 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	·74 guns: ·Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs ·Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs ·Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs ·Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs

Early history.





Colossus was commissioned in the June of 1787 under Captain Hugh Christian, and acted as a guardship at Portsmouth under Captain Henry Harvey until the September of 1791.



Refitted at Portsmouth, she was recommissioned in the February of 1793 under Captain Charles Pole she sailed for the Med in the April of that year.On the 6th of June, in the Bay of Biscay, she captured Vanneau, a tiny vessel with an armament of just six guns on the 6th of June, which the Royal Navy took into service. Then only a month later accompanied by HMS Leviathan she captured the Privateer Le Vrai Patriot. Still in the same year, Colossus was part of a large fleet of 51 warships of numerous types, including a Spanish squadron, but commanded overall by Vice Admiral Lord Samuel Hood.




The Siege of Toulon.




The Fleet arrived off Toulon on the 26th of August, 1793, with Lord Hood aboard HMS Victory. The objective was to keep the French Fleet in check. Berthed In Toulon's port were 58 French warships, and Lord Hood was determined not to allow such a potent and dangerous fleet to be taken over by French revolutionary forces. The Bourbons, the Royalists of France, had thus far managed to maintain control of Toulon, a vital Mediterranean port. Upon the arrival of the British Fleet, the Bourbons duly surrendered the town and ships to Hood.



Sailors and Royal Marines began to land at Toulon from the ships of the Fleet, with the objective of taking possession of the key forts, which they succeeded in doing. The French Republican forces were quickly mobilized, and began a siege of Toulon on the 7th of September. By the 15th, the British and Spanish were forced to withdraw as the heights overlooking the anchorage had been taken by the Republicans and a battery of siege guns established there. In the retreat the British took with them over15,000 Royalists, as well as destroying the dockyards, and also a large number of the French warships. The Royal Navy lost 10 ships to artillery fire after the French capture of the heights. Colossus then returned to Portsmouth for a refit which took until the April of 1794.

June saw her joining Montague's squadron, and taking part in the Battle of Groix on the 23rd of June,1795.Colossus was once again embroiled in a large fleet action. 25 ships commanded by Admiral Lord Bridport on his flagship, Royal George, fought a French fleet of 23 warships under the command of Rear-Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse. The battle was immense and chaotic, and raged across a vast area, yet it came to an indecisive end, when Bridport ordered his Fleet to cease fighting at 7.15am, just four hours after the initial fighting had started. This decision allowed nine important French warships to escape. Colossus received damage, suffering three killed and thirty wounded. In total, British losses were 31 killed and 113 wounded. French losses are not known; it is estimated over 670 French sailors were killed or wounded, during skirmishes that resulted in the capture of three French warships.


Colossus at the Battle of Groix.


Though Colossus was involved in much bitter fighting, her Scots captain, John Monkton, ordered his kilt-wearing piper to proceed to the maintop mast staysail netting and play the pipes throughout the battle, no doubt to the bemusement of the French sailors who witnessed it.



Colossusnow returned to Plymouth to make repairs which took until the July of 1796 when she came under the command of Captain Richard Grindall until the end of that year.

Battle of Cape St. Vincent.

In the February of 1797, Colossus, now commanded by Captain George Murray, as part of Parker's reinforcements to Admiral John Jervis, joined his fleet and was involved in yet another large-scale clash of fleets in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent on the 14th of February. She was part of a 21-ship strong fleet (including 7 smaller craft) under the command of Jervis in his flagship HMS Victory, against a Spanish Fleet of 27 ships commanded by Lieutenant-General Don José de Córdoba y Ramos. Colossus sustained serious damage, her sails being virtually shot away. It looked inevitable that she would be raked by Spanish warships, until Orion closed up on Colossus and covered her.




The battle was a major victory for the Royal Navy. Despite being outnumbered, it captured four Spanish ships of the Line and crippled seven more, including the largest warship afloat at that time - the Santísima Trinidad. The British lost approximately 300 killed or wounded; the Spanish lost 1,092 killed or wounded, and 2,300 taken as prisoners.



Other action.

As the fleet repaired at Naples Colossus was immediately sent "on a cruise off Malta". She then went to Gibraltar before returning to the now repaired fleet in Naples. In the summer, William Bolton (later Captain) was promoted to Lieutenant on the Colossus, and the ship on the obverse of the 1797 medal featuring William Bolton may represent Colossus. Colossus was not cannibalized; Captain Murray did, however, hand over to Nelson three of his guns and one bower anchor. This was done as Colossus had been ordered home to England, whereas the Vanguard was staying within the war zone. Loaded with Greek vases and wounded men from the battle of the Nile, Colossus set off for home. She stopped at Algiers and at Lisbon on the way. At Lisbon she joined a larger convoy that was "bound for Ireland and other northern ports". The convoy dispersed in the English Channel as planned.

Shipwreck.



Approximate position of the wreck.



Amidst the bad winter weather Colossus sighted the Isles of Scilly first and came to anchor in St Mary's Roads on 7 December. For three days she intended to ride out the storm, only for it to increase. On the night of 10 December an anchor cable parted and the ship ran aground on a submerged ledge of rock off Samson Island. Only one life was lost, that of Quartermaster Richard King who drowned when he fell overboard while trying to sound the lead. Boats were immediately put out from the island, and all of the other crew were transported to safety by the morning. On 11 December the ship settled on her side, the starboard beam ends touching the waves. Attempts to re-board her were thwarted by continued high seas.



On 15 December Colossus' mainmast and bowsprit broke away and it became clear she could no longer be re-floated. A naval brig, Fearless, was able to put alongside the shipwrecked vessel on 29 December and bring away a quantity of stores and the body of Admiral Molyneux Shuldam which had been transported aboard Colossus for reburial in England. No further salvage proved possible and the vessel sank entirely in early January 1799.




For more information on the wreck see here:-
http://scillydivers.blogspot.com/p/wreck-of-hms-colossus.html

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HMS Conqueror (1773)

HMS Conqueror was a 74-gun Royal Oak class, third rateship of the line, designed by Sir John Williams and ordered on the 12th of October,1768. M/shipwright Israel Pownoll until the February of 1775, and completed by John Henslow. She was launched on the10th of October, 1773 at Plymouth.

History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Conqueror
Ordered:	12 October 1768
Builder:	Plymouth Dockyard
Laid down:	October 1769
Launched:	10 October 1773
Fate:	Broken up, 1794
General characteristics
Class and type:	Royal Oak-classship of the line
Tons burthen:	1606
Length:	168 ft 6 in (51.36 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	46 ft 9 in (14.25 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft (6.1 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs

She was commissioned under Captain Thomas Graves
coppered and fitted at Plymouth but paid off after wartime service in the March of 1781.

Recommissioned in the may of that year under Captain George Balfour who commanded her at the Battle of the Saintes, in 1782.

She was fitted in ordinary at Plymouth in the November of 1783.Moved to Chatham in 1787andwas broken up there in the November of 1794.

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French ship Courageux (1753)



Courageux was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, built at Brest from 1751 and launched in 1753.

History
France
Name:	Courageux
Builder:	Brest
Launched:	11 October 1753
Captured:	13 August 1761, by Royal Navy
Great Britain
Name:	Courageux
Acquired:	13 August 1761
Fate:	Wrecked off Gibraltar, 18 December 1796
General characteristics
Class and type:	74-gun third-rateship of the line
Tons burthen:	1,721​30⁄94 bm
Length:	172 feet 3 inches (52.5 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	48 ft 3⁄4 in (14.6 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft 10 1⁄2 in (6.4 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Armament:	French Navy: 74 guns Gundeck: 28 × 36-pounders Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounders Quarterdeck: 16 × 8-pounders Royal Navy: 74 guns Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounders Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounders Quarterdeck: 18 × 9-pounders

FRENCH SERVICE.

Battle of Cape Finisterre (1761)

In the late evening of 13 August 1761, Courageux was off Vigo in the company of the frigates Malicieuse and Hermione, when the 74-gun British ship HMS Bellona and the frigate Brilliant were seen. Mistaking them for ships of the line, Courageux and her compatriots sought escape into the darkness. The moon was bright, however, and the British were able to pursue.

The next morning, Courageux's captain decided that Bellona was a 50-gun ship and, believing he had the superior force, ordered the frigates to attack Brilliant while he turned to close with Bellona. When the ships were within musket-shot, Courageux opened fire and, within nine minutes, had brought down Bellona's mizzen-mast and cut her rigging so badly that the ship became difficult to handle. Bellona's captain, seeing the danger, ordered a boarding party, but Courageux sheered off. With difficulty, the British ship was able to wear and, coming up on Courageux's starboard quarter, unleashed a series of devastating broadsides. Courageux was greatly damaged and, with about 200 men killed and a further 100 wounded, struck her colours.




Bellona vs Courageux.

BRITISH SERVICE.

Courageux was purchased by the Admiralty on the 2nd of February of the following year, and taken into the Royal Navy as the third-rate HMS Courageux. In the July of that year a large repair was begun at Portsmouth, which took until the middle of the June of1764 to complete. A further substantial repair was made between the January of 1772 and the July of1773, In the July of 1776, Courageux was commissioned under Captain Samuel Hood, and, in November, and she was fitted out as a guardship at Portsmouth.

In 1778 she joined the Channel Fleet, and she was later part of the squadron commanded by CommodoreCharles Fielding that controversially captured a Dutch convoy on the 31st of December, 1779, in what became known as the Affair of Fielding and Bylandt.
Courageux was in the Western Approaches on 12 March 1780, in the company of another seventy-four, HMS Alexander, when a large frigate was seen to the south-east. Alexander set off in pursuit and after eighteen hours was close enough to engage with her chase guns. After two hours more, as she was overhauling her quarry, Alexander's fore-top mast snapped. Courageux had by this time caught up and continued the chase, eventually forcing the French frigate's surrender. The prize was the Monsieur, a privateer from Granville of 40 guns and a crew of 362.

In 1781, Courageux was under the command of Lord Mulgrave, and on 4 January, she and HMS Valiant recaptured Minerva, approximately 5 miles west of Ushant. Minerve had sailed in company from Brest the previous day for a fortnight's cruise around the Scilly Isles. Courageux exchanged fire at close range for more than an hour, during which time all of Minerve's masts were put out of action and extensive damage done to her hull, while fifty of her crew were killed and a further twenty-three injured. Courageux's mizzen, foremast and bowsprit were damaged, and ten of her crew were killed and seven wounded. Valiant, in the meantime, had gone off in pursuit of another ship. Courageux towed her prize to Spithead, arriving on the morning of 8 January






A 1779 depiction of British-occupied Gibraltar, under siege from Spanish forces.

In April, Courageux was part of the convoy under George Darby sent to relieve the Great Siege of Gibraltar, maintained by French and Spanish forces since June 1779. Courageux shared in the prize money for the French brigs Duc de Chartres and Trois Amis and the Spanish frigate Santa Leucadia captured during the cruise.

A refit was carried out in the April of1782. Then, in the June of 1787 a greater repair was required, taking until the July of 1789. Following a dispute with Spain over territorial rights along the Nootka Sound, Courageux was commissioned in the April of 1790 under George Countess for the Spanish Armament. The crisis was largely resolved through a series of agreements signed between the October of 1790 and the January of 1794. In the February of 1791, Courageux was under the command of Captain Alan Gardner when she was recommissioned for the Russian Armament. Again, the matter was settled before she was called into action, and she paid off in September of that year.

Toulon and Corsica.

France declared war on Britain and the Dutch Republic in the February of 1793, and Courageux, under Captain William Waldegrave, was dispatched with other British ships to blockade the French fleet in Toulon. By the middle of August, this British force, under Admiral Hood, in the 100-gun First Rate ship HMS Victory, had expanded into twenty-one ships of the line. On the 23rd of August, a deputation of French royalists came aboard the Victory to discuss the conditional surrender of the town, and on the 27th of August 1500 troops were landed to evict the republicans occupying the forts guarding the port. The landings were covered by Courageux, Meleager, Tartar, Egmont and Robust. Once the forts were secured, the remainder of Hood's fleet, accompanied by seventeen Spanish ships of the line, which had just arrived, sailed into the harbour.

In September 1793, during the occupation, Courageux, captained temporarily by Captain John Matthews, joined a squadron under Robert Linzee, which was sent to Corsica to support an insurrection there. General Pasquale Paoli, the leader of the insurgent party, had assured Hood that a small show of strength was all that was needed to force the island's surrender. This turned out not to be the case, however, and Linzee's appeals to the French garrisons there were rejected. His force, of three ships of the line and two frigates, was too small to blockade the island, so an attack on San Fiorenzo was decided upon.

The two frigates, Lowestoffe and Nemesis, were charged with destroying a Martello tower at Forneilli, two miles from the town, which guarded the only secure anchorage in the bay. After taking a few salvos from the ships, the French garrison deserted, and the British landed men to secure the fort. Linzee's squadron entered the bay but was prevented from engaging the batteries of San Fiorenzo by contrary winds. During the night, HMS Ardent was warped into a position where, at 03:30 on the1st of October, she was able to attack the batteries and cover the approach of the other British ships. Half an hour later, HMS Alcide tried to take up a station nearby but was blown towards some rocks by a sudden change of wind and had to be towed clear. Courageux in the meantime covered Alcide's stern by coming between it and the gunfire from a redoubt on the shore. Alcide eventually got into a position where she could join in the action, and the three ships bombarded the redoubt until 08:15 when, there being little sign of damage, Linzee gave the order to withdraw. Courageux bore the brunt of the action, having been exposed to a raking fire from the town, and caught on fire four times after being hit by heated shot.

During the same month, French troops laid siege to the city of Toulon, and in the December, the allied force within was driven out. When the order to withdraw was given, Courageux was being repaired and was without a rudder, but she was able to warp out of the harbour and assist in the evacuation of allied troops from the waterfront. A replacement rudder was brought out, suspended between two ship's boats, and fitted later.

Battle of Genoa.

Courageux, now commanded by Captain Augustus Montgomery, was one of thirteen ships of the line, which, together with seven frigates, two sloops and a cutter, were anchored in the roads of Livorno on the 8th of March 1795. The following day, a British scout, the 24-gun sloop Moselle, brought news that a French fleet of fifteen ships of the line, six frigates and two brigs, had been seen off the islands of Sainte-Marguerite. Vice-Admiral William Hotham immediately set off in pursuit, and on the10th of March the advanced British frigates spotted the French fleet at some distance, making its way back to Toulon against the wind. Two days later, on the night of the 12th of March, a storm developed which badly damaged two French ships of the line. These ships were escorted to Gourjean Bay by a pair of French frigates, thus leaving the opposing fleets of roughly equal in strength and numbers.

The next morning, Hotham attempted to arrange his ships into a Battle line, but seeing no response from the French fleet, changed his orders to give general chase. At 08:00 the 80-gun Ça Ira at the rear collided with Victoire, and her fore and main topmasts went by the board. The leading British ship, the 36-gun frigate HMS Inconstant under Captain Thomas Fremantle, reached the damaged Ça Ira within the hour and opened up such a furious fire at close range that she caused even further devastation. Seeing the danger, the French frigate Vestale fired upon Inconstant from long range before taking the limping Ça Ira in tow. Shortly after this, HMS Agamemnon under Captain Horatio Nelson joined in the action, until several of the French ships bearing down upon him forced her to drop back into proper station in the line.

Throughout the day and the following night, the British van sporadically engaged the French rearguard, with Ça Ira dropping further behind the main body of the French force. In order to better protect the damaged ship, the French admiral, Pierre Martin, ordered the ship of the line Censeur to replace Vestale as the towing ship. By morning the fleets were 21 nautical miles (39 km) south-west of Genoa, with the British rapidly gaining ground. Ça Ira and Censeur had fallen even further behind, and Hotham sent his two fastest ships after them. Captain and Bedford which unfortunately did not arrive simultaneously and thus both were repulsed, although further damage had been inflicted on the French stragglers during the process. Martin then ordered his line to wear in succession and get between the British fleet and the badly damaged Ça Ira and Censeur, which in the meantime had come under a new threat from the recently arrived Courageux and HMS Illustrious. A sudden lull in wind made manoeuvres more difficult, and the leading French ship, Duquesne under Captain Zacharie Allemand, found itself sailing down the opposite side of the British vanguard.

At 08:00, Duquesne was in a position to engage Illustrious and Courageux, which, in their efforts to reach Ça Ira and Censeur, were now far ahead and to leeward of their own line. Two other French ships, Victoire and Tonnant, now joined in the action, and, for an hour, the French and British vanguards exchanged heavy fire. Both British ships were badly mauled: Illustrious had drifted out of the battle, having lost her main and mizzen masts over the side, while Courageux also had two masts shot away and her hull much holed by the French fire. The Duquesne, Victoire, and Tonnant then exchanged passing broadsides with the British ships coming up, before turning away and leaving Ça Ira and Censeur to their fate. Hotham, considering the condition of the ships in his van, and content with his prizes, chose not pursue the French any further.

Action off Hyeres.

The fleet was re-victualling in San Fiorenzo bay on the 8th of July, 1795, when a small squadron under the command of Commodore Horatio Nelson approached, pursued by the French Fleet from Toulon. The British fleet was not able to put to sea immediately, due to contrary winds, but was spotted by the French, who abandoned their chase. Hotham finished refitting and supplying his ships, and finally managed to set off in persuit of his quarry at 21:00, almost twelve hours later. On the night of the 12th of July, the British ships were struck by a viscious storm, and they were still carrying out repairs the following morning when the French fleet was sighted again. At 03:45 Hotham gave the order to make all possible sail in pursuit of their enemy, which by then was 5 nautical miles away from them, bearing towards Fréjus.

By 08:00, the French had formed a line of battle, but the British ships were strung out over 8 nautical miles in total. The leading British ships, Victory, Culloden, and Cumberland, at ³⁄₄ of a mile were the only ships within range and opened fire. After six hours, as more ships arrived on the scene, one of the rearmost French ships, Alcide struck her colours.However, before the British could take possession of her, she caught fire and exploded. Courageux, under the command of Benjamin Hallowell, and some wayto the rear, was unable to get into the action before Hotham, believing the fleet to be running out of sea room, hoisted the signal to disengage.

Fate.

In the December of 1796, Courageux was with St Vincent's fleet, anchored in the bay of Gibraltar, when a great storm tore her from her mooring and drove her onto the rocks. Sources differ as to which day this occurred and the number of lives lost. William James records that on 10 December a French squadron under Admiral Villeneuve left the Mediterranean, but the British were unable to pursue due to a strong lee-shore wind. The weather took a turn for the worse, and that night several ships cut or had their cables snapped, including HMS Culloden and HMS Gibraltar.

When Courageux parted from her anchor, Captain Benjamin Hallowell was ashore at Gibraltar, serving on a court martial, and Lieutenant John Burrows was in command. The ship drifted across the bay and almost under the guns of the Spanish batteries, after which she was blown towards the Barbary coast under close-reefed topsails; Burrows was reluctant to run through the Straits for fear of meeting with Villeneuve's ships. Towards evening, the wind and rain increased to hurricane force, and soon after 20:00, the crew, who had been exhausted from trying to sail the ship out of trouble, were sent to dinner; the officers also retired below, except for a lieutenant of the watch. At 21:00, when land was sighted, there were too few men available to prevent the Courageux hitting the rocks at the foot of Mons Abyla on the African coast. She turned broadside on to the wind , losing her masts over the side, and water entered rapidly as waves and winds lashed her hull. Of the 593 officers and men who were on board, only 129 escaped with their lives: five by means of the ship's launch, and the remainder by moving along the fallen mainmast to the shore.

[Bligh]

HMS Culloden (1783)



HMS Culloden was a 74-gun third rate Ganges class ship of the line designed by Edward Hunt of only three were built. Ordered on the 12th of July,1781 she was built by M/shipwright John Randall at Rotherhithe and launched on the16th of June,1783 at Deptford.

History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Culloden
Ordered:	12 July 1781
Builder:	Randall, Rotherhithe
Laid down:	January 1782
Launched:	16 June 1783
Honours and awards:	Participated in: Glorious First of June Battle of Cape St Vincent Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife Battle of the Nile
Fate:	Broken up, February 1813
General characteristics
Class and type:	Ganges-classship of the line
Tons burthen:	1683 (bm)
Length:	169 ft 6 in (51.7 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 8 1⁄2 in (14.5 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft 3 in (6.2 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

She was commissioned in the August of 1783 under Captain Rowland Cotton as a guardship at Plymouth until paid off in 1786. Recommissioned in the June of that year under Captain Sir Thomas Rich she continued in her role as a guardship until the September of 1791 under a series of different captains. She was then Recommissioned for Channel service. Recommissioned again under the auspices of Sir Thomas Rich, she sailed for the Leeward Islands on the 24th of March,1793.

French Revolutionary Wars.

One of her first engagements was at the Glorious First of June, on the 7th of June 1794 under Captain Isaac Schomberg. She was captained by Sir Thomas Troubridge during the next six years. During the Mutiny in the December of that year, and then sailed for the Med in the May of 1795 taking part in Hotham's action off Hyeres on the 13th of July of that year losing two killed and five wounded.

Her next major action was in the Battle of Cape St Vincent,on the 14th of February,1797, in which she led the line. Culloden was damaged, and had 10 men killed and 47 wounded. On the 27th of July of that same year Culloden took part in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. In the following year on the first of August, 1798 she participated in the Battle of the Nile, but ran aground on shoals off Aboukir Island before being able to engage the French fleet, and subsequently did not actively engage the enemy. She was assisted by HMS Mutine whilst aground.



Her next action was in 1799 and again in 1800 at the blockade of Malta. Under Commander John Richards she then returned to England for major repairs at Plymouth.

Napoleonic Wars.

In November of 1802 she recommissioned under Captain Charles Lane for Channel service. In 1803 she served first as the Flagship of Admiral Sir George Keith and then Rear Admiral George Campbell.
In 1803 she took part in the chase of Le Douguay-Trouin and La Guerriere to Corruna.
In 1804 she served as Flagship to Vice Admiral Collingwood, and then Rear Admiral Sir Edward Pellew.

In the September of that year she sailed for the East Indies under Captain Christopher Cole, and captured the French privateer Émilien on the 26th of September, 1806 after a chase that lasted two days and a night. He described her as a ship corvette of 18 guns and 150 men. When the British took possession of Emilien at 2a.m. on the 25th, close off the shoals of Point Guadaveri they found out that they had driven her ashore on the previous night. She had had to jettison 12 guns, her anchors, and her boats, to enable her to be refloated. Cole noted that Émilien was "formerly His Majesty's Sloop Trincomalee". He further noted that she was copper fastened, and that under the name of Gloire had "annoyed our Trade". However, on this cruise she was two months out of Île de France without having made any captures.

Lloyd's List reported that Culloden had captured a large French privateer named Ameleon in the Indian Sea and taken her into Madras. The Royal Navy took Émilien into service as HMS Emilien, but sold her in 1808 and it is not clear that she ever saw active service.
On 5th of July, 1808 Culloden captured the French privateer Union off Ceylon. Union had been at sea for 27 days, having sailed from Mauritius, when she encountered Culloden, but had not captured anything. Union was armed with eight guns and had a crew of 60 Europeans and 20 lascars.

In the December of that same year under the command of Captain Pownoll Pellew she made her way home.
Laid up at Plymouth in the July of1809 she remained thus in what was to be her final decommissioning.

Fate.

Culloden was finally broken up there in the February of 1813.

[Bligh]

HMS Cumberland (1774)




HMS Cumberland was a 74-gun Elizabeth Class third rateship of the line, designed by Thomas Slade and ordered on the 8th of June 1768 . Built by M/shipwright Adam Hayes she was launched on the 29th of March,1774 at Deptford Dockyard and fitted out at at Portsmouth in 1777.

History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Cumberland
Ordered:	8 June 1768
Builder:	Deptford Dockyard
Laid down:	7 January 1769
Launched:	29 March 1774
Fate:	Broken up, 1804
Notes:	·Participated in: ·Battle of Cape St Vincent ·Battle of Cuddalore
General characteristics
Class and type:	74-gunthird-rateElizabeth-classship of the line
Tons burthen:	1647 (bm)
Length:	168 ft 6 in (51.36 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	46 ft (14 m)
Depth of hold:	19 ft 9 in (6.02 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	·Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns ·Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns ·QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns ·Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

Having been coppered at Plymouth, in 1780, she saw her first action at the Battle of Cape St Vincent on the 16th of January.

She then went on to capture the French 18-gun privateer ship-sloopDuc de Chartres in the February of 1781. The Royal Navy bought in the privateer as HMS Duc de Chartres.

Cumberland then sailed to the East Indies, where she took part in the Battle of Cuddalore in 1783.



Returning home to Plymouth in 1784 for a refit, she was paid off after her wartime service. fitted as a guard ship she was recommissioned for the Spanish Armament in 1793 under Captain Thomas Lewis as Flagship for Rear Admiral John McBride( having himself been her Captain since 1787), in Howe's Fleet.


From the October of 1793 she became the Flagship of Rear Admiral Benjamin Caldwell. In the following October now commanded by Captain Bartholomew Rowley she sailed for the Med and on the 23rd of May, 1795 was involved in Hotham's action off Hyeres. On the 13th of July of that year Cumberland was part of Mann's squadron in pursuit of de Richery's Squadron.
Following the very active period, she was dispatched back to Portsmouth for a refit.



From 1799 until 1801 she came under the command of Captain Robert Graves as the Flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton.
From 1801 she was commanded by Captain Robert Reynolds in Calders Channel Squadron which then proceeded to the West Indies in pursuit of Gauteaume.




Napoleonic Wars.



During the Napolonic wars Cumberland took an active part in the Action of 28 June 1803, during the Blockade of Saint-Domingue. Two days later, Cumberland and her squadron were sailing in between Jean-Rabel and St. Nichola Mole in the West Indies, having just parted with a convoy when they spotted a sail of what appeared to be a large French warship. Cumberland and Vanguard approached her and after a few shots from Vanguard the French vessel surrendered, having suffered two men badly wounded, and being greatly outgunned. She proved to be the frigateCréole, of 44 guns, primarily 18-pounders, under the command of Citizen Le Ballard. She had been sailing from Cape François to Port au Prince with General Morgan (the second in command of San Domingo), his staff, and 530 soldiers on board, in addition to her crew of 150 men. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Creole.



While the British were taking possession of Creole, a small French navy schooner, under the command of a lieutenant, and sailing the same trajectory as Creole, sailed into the squadron and she too was seized. She had on board 100 bloodhounds from Cuba, which were "intended to accompany the Army serving against the Blacks."



Fate.



Cumberland finally arrived back in England to pay off in the January of 1804 and was broken up at Portsmouth later that year.