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HMS Foudroyant (1758)
Encyclopedia
The Foudroyant was a 80-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...
. She was later captured and served in 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...
as the Third Rate HMS Foudroyant.
French Navy and capture
Foudroyant was built at ToulonToulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
to a design by François Coulomb, and was launched on 18 December 1750. She was present at the Battle of Minorca
Battle of Minorca
The Battle of Minorca was a naval battle between French and British fleets. It was the opening sea battle of the Seven Years' War in the European theatre. Shortly after Great Britain declared war on the House of Bourbon, their squadrons met off the Mediterranean island of Minorca. The fight...
in 1756, where she engaged the British flagship HMS Ramillies.
She then formed part of a squadron under Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran
Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran
Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran was a French Admiral best known for his command of the French fleet in the Mediterranean Sea during the Seven Years' War.-Seven Years War:...
, during which time she was captured during the Battle of Cartagena
Battle of Cartagena (1758)
The Battle of Cartagena took place on 28 February 1758 off the Spanish port of Cartagena during the Seven Years War. A British fleet under Henry Osborn, which had blockaded a French fleet in Cartagena, attacked and defeated a French force under Michel-Ange Duquesne de Menneville coming to their...
off Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
on 28 February 1758 by , and .The Monmouth's captain was wounded early in the fight and the two lieutenants commanded the ship for most of the battle. The captain of the Foudroyant insisted upon handing his sword to the lieutenants including Lt Hammick who commanded the main gun-deck. After the battle the ship's crew composed a poem about the action which included the lines "Gallant Hammick aimed his guns with care, not one random shot he fired in the air".
Royal Navy
She was brought into PortsmouthPortsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
and surveyed there in September 1758 for £163.10.2d. The Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
approved her purchase on 7 November that year, and she was duly bought on 6 December for the sum of £16,759.19.11d. She was officially named Foudroyant and entered onto the navy lists on 13 December 1758. She underwent a refit at Portsmouth between February and August 1759 for the sum of £14,218.9.2d to fit her for navy service.
She was commissioned in June 1759 under the command of Captain Richard Tyrell
Richard Tyrell
Rear Admiral Richard Tyrell was an Irish officer in the Royal Navy. He was a nephew of Sir Peter Warren, and spent most of his active service in the West Indies, especially in command of the 74-gun HMS Buckingham. Having resigned command of the Antigua station in 1766, he died of fever aboard...
, serving as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Hardy
Charles Hardy
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Hardy was a Royal Navy officer and colonial governor of New York.-Early career:Born at Portsmouth, the son of a vice admiral, Charles Hardy joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer in 1731....
between June and October 1759. She spent August sailing with Admiral Edward Hawke's
Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke
Admiral of the Fleet Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke KB, PC was an officer of the Royal Navy. He is best remembered for his service during the Seven Years' War, particularly his victory over a French fleet at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759, preventing a French invasion of Britain...
fleet. Foudroyant underwent another refit at Portsmouth in the spring of 1760, commissioning later that year under Captain Robert Duff. She sailed to the Leeward Islands
Leeward Islands
The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...
in April 1760, but had returned to Britain by Autumn 1761 to undergo another refit. She took part in the operations off Martinique
British expedition against Martinique
The British expedition against Martinique was a military action from January to February 1762, as part of the Seven Years' War.- Prelude :...
in early 1762, before coming under the command of Captain Molyneaux Shuldham
Molyneux Shuldham, 1st Baron Shuldham
Molyneux Shuldham was an officer of the British Royal Navy. He served for a time as colonial governor of Newfoundland.-Family and early life:...
later that year. She served for a short period as the flagship of Admiral George Rodney
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782...
, before being paid off in 1763. She underwent several surveys, and a large repair between February 1772 and January 1774, after which she was fitted to serve as the Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
guardship in April 1775. She recommissioned again in August that year, under the command of Captain John Jervis
John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent
Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent GCB, PC was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom...
, and was stationed at Plymouth until early 1777.
In March 1777 she was fitted for service in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
, and spent that summer cruising off the French coast. On 18 June 1778 she engaged and captured the 32-gun Pallas, and was then present with Admiral Augustus Keppel's
Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel
Admiral Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel PC was an officer of the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War and the War of American Independence...
fleet at the Battle of Ushant
Battle of Ushant (1778)
The Battle of Ushant took place on 27 July 1778, during the American War of Independence, fought between French and British fleets 100 miles west of Ushant, a French island at the mouth of the English Channel off the north-westernmost point of France...
on 27 July 1778. Jervis was briefly replaced as captain by Captain Charles Hudson, while the Foudroyant became the flagship of her old commander, now Vice-Admiral Lord Shuldham. Jervis resumed command in 1779, sailing with Hardy's fleet, before being moved to a detached squadron in December 1779. Foudroyant returned to port in early 1780, where she was refitted and had her hull coppered. On the completion of this work by May, she returned to sea, sailing at first with Admiral Francis Geary's
Sir Francis Geary, 1st Baronet
Sir Francis Geary was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War, and the American War of Independence, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral.-Family and early life:...
fleet, and later with George Darby
George Darby
Vice Admiral George Darby was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was the second son of Jonathan Darby III Esq. , of Leap Castle, in King's County, Ireland.-Early career:Darby joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer...
's. She was then present at the relief of Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
in April 1781, after which she was moved to Robert Digby's
Robert Digby (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Robert Digby was an officer in the Royal Navy officer who also served briefly as an Member of Parliament .- Naval career :...
squadron. By the summer of 1781 she had returned to sailing with Darby's fleet, and by April 1782 had moved to a squadron under Samuel Barrington
Samuel Barrington
Rear Admiral Samuel Barrington RN was a British admiral.Samuel was the fourth son of John Shute Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington of Beckett Hall at Shrivenham in Berkshire...
. She captured the French 74-gun Pégase
French ship Pegase (1781)
The Pégase was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class, launched in 1781.She was captured by the Captain John Jervis on 21 April 1782 in HMS Foudroyant, Jervis was invested as a Knight of the Bath for the capture....
on 21 April 1782, for which actions Jervis was knighted. She sailed again in July 1782, this time as part of a fleet under Admiral Richard Howe
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe KG was a British naval officer, notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars. He was the brother of William Howe and George Howe.Howe joined the navy at the age of thirteen and served...
, before spending the autumn cruising in the Western Approaches
Western Approaches
The Western Approaches is a rectangular area of the Atlantic ocean lying on the western coast of Great Britain. The rectangle is higher than it is wide, the north and south boundaries defined by the north and south ends of the British Isles, the eastern boundary lying on the western coast, and the...
. She briefly came under the command of Captain William Cornwallis
William Cornwallis
Admiral the Honourable Sir William Cornwallis GCB was a Royal Navy officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He was the brother of Charles Cornwallis, the 1st Marquess Cornwallis, governor-general of India...
in 1783, but was soon paid off and then fitted for ordinary.