HMS Belliqueux (1780)
Belliqueux
HMS Belliqueux was yet another Thomas Slade designed Ardent Class 64-gun third rate ship of the line, built by John Perry and Hankey at Blackwall Yard. Ordered on the 19th of February 1778, and laid down in the June of that year, she was launched on the 5th of June, 1780, and completed between the 13th of June and the 31st of August in that same year. She was named after the French ship of that same name captured in 1758.
History GREAT BRITAIN Name: HMS Belliqueux Ordered: 19 February 1778 Builder: Perry, Blackwall Yard Laid down: June 1778 Launched: 5 June 1780 Honours and
awards:Participated in:
- Battle of Fort Royal
- Battle of the Saints
Fate: Broken up, 1816 Notes: Prison ship from 1814 General characteristics Class and type: Ardent Class 64 gun ship of the line Tons burthen: 1379 (bm) Length: 160 ft (48.8 m) (gundeck) Beam: 44 ft 4.75 in (13.5 m) Depth of hold: 19 ft (5.8 m) Propulsion: Sails Sail plan: Full rigged ship Armament:
- Gundeck: 26 × 24-pounder guns
- Upper gundeck: 26 × 18-pounder guns
- QD: 10 × 4-pounder guns
- Fc: 2 × 9-pounders
Service.
HMS Belliqueux was commissioned in the May of 1780 and on the 29th of April, 1781 she took part at the Battle of Fort Royal, between fleets of the Royal Navy and the French. After an engagement lasting four hours, the British squadron under Sir Samuel Hood broke off the action and retreated. De Grasse offered a desultory chase before seeing the French convoy safely to port.
In the following year she was at the Battle of the Saints between the 9th and 12th of April 1782.
The French suffered heavy casualties at the Saintes and many were taken prisoner, including the admiral, Comte de Grasse. Four French ships of the line were captured, including the flagship, and one was destroyed. Rodney was credited with pioneering the tactic of "Breaking the line" in the battle, though this is disputed. During the action Belliqueux suffered 4 killed and 10 wounded.
Belliqueux was paid off in the August of 1783 after the completion of her wartime service.
Following a small repair at Plymouth for £13,952.11.8d she was recommissioned in the April of 1793 under Captain William Otway, but soon passed to the command of Captain George Bowen and sailed for Jamaica on the 20th of March 1794. In the May of that year she joined Ford’s Squadron at Port-au- Prince, and in the following month was placed under the command of Captain James Brine. She was paid off in the September of 1995.
In the May of 1796 she was recommissioned and came under the command of Captain John Inglis bound for Duncan’s fleet at the Battle of Camperdown in the October of 1797. Following the battle Inglis who had commanded her bravely was commended for his action.
At the action on the 4th of August 1800, which was. a highly unusual engagement which occurred off the Brazilian coast. A force of French Frigates which had been raiding British commerce off West Africa approached and attempted to attack a convoy of valuable East Indiamen, large and heavily armed merchant vessels sailing from Britain to India and China, two ships sailing for Botany Bay, and a whaler sailing for the South Seas' whale fishery. Belliqueux was escort to the convoy, which otherwise had to rely on the ships' individual armament to protect them from attack. Due to their large size, the East Indiamen could be mistaken for ships of the line at a distance, and the French commander Commodore Jean- Francois- Landolphe was un-nerved when the convoy formed line of battle. Supposing his target to be a fleet of powerful warships he turned to escape and the British commander, Captain Rowley Bulteel, immediately ordered a pursuit. To preserve the impression of warships he also ordered four of his most powerful East Indiamen to join the chase.
Belliqueux rapidly out ran Landolphe's flagship Concorde, leaving Landolphe with no option but to surrender without any serious resistance. The rest of the French squadron continued to flee separately during the night, each pursued by two East Indiamen. After an hour and a half in pursuit, with darkness falling, the East Indiaman Exeter came alongside the French Medee, giving the impression by use of lights that she was a large ship of the line. Believing himself outgunned, Captain Jean-Daniel Coudin surrendered, only discovering his assailant's true identity when he came aboard. The action is the only occasion during the war in which a British merchant vessel captured a large French warship.
On her return to England Belliqueux was repaired by Perry and Co. at Blackwall between the October of 1804 and the March of 1805. She was then fitted at Woolwich in the following month under Captain George Byng, who was to retain this post until 1811.
She sailed for the East Indies in the September of 1805, and joined Popham’s squadron at the Cape of Good Hope. After the Dutch Governor Jansens signed a capitulation on the 18th of January, 1806, and the British established control of Cape Colony, Belliqueux escorted the East Indiamen William Pitt, Jane ,Dutchess of Gordon, Sir William Pulteney, and Comet to Madras. The convoy also included the Northampton, Streatham, Europe, Union, Glory, and Sarah Christiana.
At Madras, the captains of the eight East Indiamen in the convoy joined together to present Captain George Byng, of Belliqueux, a piece of silver plate worth £100 as a token of appreciation for his conduct while they were under his orders. Byng wrote his thank you letter to them on 24 April.
Belliqueux now continued her voyage and joined Pellew’s squadron at Batavia in the November of that same year. One unfortunate incident during this period was the death of Philip Dundas the Lieutenant Governor of Penang whilst aboard Belliqueux on the 8th of April 1807, whilst Belliqueux was crossing the Bay of Bengal.
In 1809 Belliqueux was present at the occupation of Rodrigues, and then continued on to China with a convoy during the June of 1810.
Fate.
On her return to England in the August of 1811 she was paid off at Sheerness.
Belliqueux was fitted as a prison ship at Chatham from the October of 1813 to the February of 1814 serving there under Lieutenant William Lee until she was decommissioned and broken up in the March of 1816.
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