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French ship America (1788)
Encyclopedia
America was a Téméraire-class
Téméraire class ship of the line
The Téméraire class ships of the line was a class of 107 74-gun ships of the line built between 1782 and 1813 for the French navy. The type was and remains the most numerous class of capital ship ever built....
74-gun ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
of the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
. The Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
captured her in 1794 at the Battle of the Glorious First of June
Glorious First of June
The Glorious First of June [Note A] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars...
. She then served with the British under the name HMS Impetueux until she was broken up in 1813. She became the prototype for the Royal Navy America-class ship of the line
America class ship of the line
The America-class ships of the line were a class of two 74-gun third rates. They were built for the Royal Navy to the lines of the Téméraire-class French ship America, which had been captured in 1794 and renamed HMS Impetueux.-Ships:...
.
Capture
She was captured by HMS LeviathanHMS Leviathan (1790)
HMS Leviathan was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 9 October 1790. At the Battle of Trafalgar under Henry William Bayntun, she was near the front of the windward column led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard his flagship, , and captured the Spanish ship San Augustin.In...
at the Battle of the Glorious First of June. In 1795 the Admiralty renamed her HMS Impétueux.
British service
In March 1799, while under Pellew's command, some of the crew of Impetueux fomented a mutiny. The Marine GuardRoyal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
remained loyal, which enabled Pellew to suppress the mutiny. Three were hanged and six were flogged around the fleet before being transferred to other ships.
On 4 June 1800, a squadron under Captain Edward Pellew in Impetueux, the 32-gun frigate , Captain William Lukin, the 16-gun ship sloop and some small-craft, attacked the south-west end of Quiberon
Quiberon
Quiberon is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.It is situated on the southern part of the Quiberon peninsula, the northern part being the commune of Saint-Pierre-Quiberon...
and silenced the forts. Troops under Major Ramsey then landed and destroyed the forts. The attack resulted in the British taking several vessels and scuttling others. The only casualties were in Cynthia, which lost two men killed and one wounded.
On 25 August a squadron and convoy under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren
John Borlase Warren
Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet , was an English admiral, politician and diplomat. Born in Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, he was the son and heir of John Borlase Warren of Stapleford and Little Marlow...
participated in another attack on a fort at the bay of Playa de Dominos (Doniños), outside the port of Ferrol. The Impétueux, 28-gun frigate , Cynthia and the 14-gun hired armed cutter St Vincent
Hired armed cutter Earl St Vincent
Two vessels have been named the Hired armed cutter Earl St Vincent.The name Earl St Vincent comes from John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent.-The first Earl St Vincent:...
silenced the battery, which was armed with eight 24-pounders. Then seamen from the ships landed to assist a large force of army troops to haul the guns up to the heights above Ferrol. However, it became apparent that Ferrol was too well fortified. The Navy then re-ebarked the troops and the whole British force withdrew.
Four days later, the same squadron sent a cutting out party consisting of two boats each from , , , and Cynthia, four boats from , as well as the boats from , and Impetueux into Vigo
Vigo
Vigo is a city and municipality in north-west Spain, in Galicia, situated on the ria of the same name on the Atlantic Ocean.-Population:...
bay where the French privateer Guipe, of Bordeaux, had taken refuge. After a 15-minute fight the British captured the privateer and towed her out. She was flush-decked and or 300 tons. She was pierced for 22 guns but carried 18 9-pounders, and had a crew of 161 men under the command of Citoyenne Dupan. The expedition cost the British four dead, 23 officers and men wounded, and one man missing. The French lost 25 dead and 40 wounded. In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "29 Aug. Boat Service 1800" to all survivors of the this action that came forward to claim it.
See also
- French ship Impétueux (1787)French ship Impétueux (1787)The Impétueux was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.She took part in the Glorious First of June in 1794. During the battle, HMS Marlborough. Marlborough became tangled with Impétueux...
- List of ships captured in the 18th century
- Glossary of nautical termsGlossary of nautical termsThis is a glossary of nautical terms; some remain current, many date from the 17th-19th century. See also Wiktionary's nautical terms, :Category:Nautical terms, and Nautical metaphors in English.- A :...