HMS Belleisle
Encyclopedia
Three ships of the Royal Navy
have been named HMS Belleisle after Belle Île
off the coast of Brittany
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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...
have been named HMS Belleisle after Belle Île
Belle Île
Belle-Île or Belle-Île-en-Mer is a French island off the coast of Brittany in the département of Morbihan, and the largest of Brittany's islands. It is 14 km from the Quiberon peninsula.Administratively, the island forms a canton: the canton of Belle-Île...
off the coast of Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
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- The first BelleisleHMS Belleisle (1795)Lion was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the French Navy, which later served in the Royal Navy. She was built at Rochefort. She was later renamed Marat and then Formidable, with the changing fortunes of the French Revolution....
was a French 74-gunSeventy-four (ship)The "seventy-four" was a type of two-decked sailing ship of the line nominally carrying 74 guns. Originally developed by the French Navy in the mid-18th century, the design proved to be a good balance between firepower and sailing qualities, and was adopted by the British Royal Navy , as well as...
third-rateThird-rateIn the British Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks . Years of experience proved that the third rate ships embodied the best compromise between sailing ability , firepower, and cost...
ship of the lineShip of the lineA 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...
named Formidable captured in 1795 near Belle ÎleBelle ÎleBelle-Île or Belle-Île-en-Mer is a French island off the coast of Brittany in the département of Morbihan, and the largest of Brittany's islands. It is 14 km from the Quiberon peninsula.Administratively, the island forms a canton: the canton of Belle-Île...
. She fought at the Battle of TrafalgarBattle of TrafalgarThe Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
and was broken up in 1814. - The second BelleisleHMS Belleisle (1819)HMS Belleisle was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 26 April 1819 at Pembroke Dockyard.Belleisle was converted to serve as a troopship in 1841, and was broken up in 1872....
was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1819 and broken up in 1872. - The third BelleisleHMS Belleisle (1876)HMS Belleisle was one of the four ships currently under construction for foreign navies in British shipyards which were purchased by the British government for the Royal Navy in 1878, at the time of the Russian war scare....
was the lead ship of her classBelleisle class battleshipThe two ships of the Belleisle class, and , originally built in Britain for the Turkish Navy, were taken over by the Royal Navy in 1878.In 1878 Russia and Turkey were at war, and it was perceived by the British Government that Britain might be drawn into the conflict. This perception has become...
of ironclad battleshipBattleshipA battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
, originally built for the Ottoman EmpireOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
as Peiki Shereef, but purchased in 1876, used as a coast defense ship and expended as a target shipTarget shipA target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing.-Rationale:Sinking redundant warships is an effective way of testing new weapons and warships in as realistic a manner as possible. Whilst practice torpedoes are fired...
in 1903. - A destroyerDestroyerIn naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
named Belleisle was launched in 1946 but never completed.