HMS Renown (1798)

In 1799, Renown under the command of Captain Albemarle Bertie was part of the squadron blocking the Basque raid ^[2] .

In the years 1800-1801, Renown under the command of Captain Thomas Eiles served as the flagship of Rear Admiral Sir John Borlaz Warren , as part of the Channel Navy ^[3] .

On the evening of June 10, 1800, two boats from HMS Defense , HMS Renown , HMS Fisgard and HMS Unicorn were pushed off the side of Fisgard to attack the convoy, standing at Saint-Croix, at Fort Penmark. The HMS Renown was commanded by Lieutenant Henry Burke. Under heavy fire, they launched 3 armed ships and 8 others with cargoes for Brest . The remaining 20 were thrown onto the rocks. On June 18, Unicorn brought prizes to Plymouth. ^[4]

On the night of June 23-24, Renown , Defense and Fisgard boats attacked a convoy at the mouth of the Kemper River. When the enemy departed upstream, they landed on the shore and blew up a battery of three 24-pounder guns and other structures, without incurring any losses ^[5] .

On July 1, 1800, Renown , Fisgard , Defense and Lord Nelson's hired cutter took part in another operation on the Kemper River near the island of Noarmoutier . British ships again sent their boats to attack the French convoy, which resulted in the destruction of the 20-gun ship Therése , the 12-gun lugger , two 6-gun schooners and the 6-gun launch of unknown names. The British squad also burned about 15 merchant ships loaded with flour, corn and other cargoes for the French fleet in Brest. In this case, a detachment of 192 people lost 92 sailors and officers (including the detachment of Lieutenant Burke from Renown ), who were captured by the French when their boats ran aground ^{[6] [7]} .

August 25, 1800 Renown took part in the expedition to Ferrol on the coast of Spain . British troops without resistance landed on a small beach near Cape Prior. At dawn on August 26, an attack by a large Spanish squad was repulsed. This victory, achieved with relatively small losses (16 killed and 68 wounded), gave the British the opportunity to fully capture the heights of Brion and Balon, which dominated the city and the harbor of Ferrol. However, the British came to the conclusion that the city was too well fortified and therefore decided to abandon the attack. On the same evening, the troops returned to their ships ^[8] .

On the night of August 29, 1800, shipboats from London, Renown, Courageux, Amethyst, Stag, Amelia, Brilliant and Cynthia at Cape Vigo attacked the 18-gun French marque Guepe . The French had fierce resistance, but having lost 25 people killed and 40 wounded in 15 minutes were forced to surrender. The British lost four people killed and 20 wounded. Among the wounded officers was Lieutenant Henry Burke with Renown , who was promoted to commander as a reward for his actions ^[9] . For this fight in 1847, the Admiralty released a medal with a buckle “Boat Service 29 aug. 1800 ", which was awarded to all the surviving members of this battle ^[10] .

Renown was part of Lord Keith’s squadron consisting of 22 battleships, 37 frigates and sloops and 80 transports, which sailed from Gibraltar on October 2, 1800, having about 18,000 soldiers under the command of General Sir Ralph Ebercrombie . On September 4, the vice-admiral anchored in the bay of Cadiz , and demanded the surrender of the city in order to gain control over the Spanish squadron anchored in the harbor. When Don Thomas de Morla, the governor of Cadiz, replied to the British that a plague was raging in the city and its surroundings, the British did not attack the city and the expedition returned to Gibraltar ^[11] . However, the main reason for the fact that the British were forced to retreat was the insufficient number of boats that could bring as many as 3,000 soldiers to the coast at a time, while 8000 Spanish garrisons were waiting for them on the coast ^[3] .

In 1801, it was re-equipped for the transport of troops and, in this capacity, took part in Egyptian operations. On March 1, about 70 warships, along with transports carrying 16,000 soldiers, arrived in the Gulf of Abukir near Alexandria . Bad weather delayed the landing of troops for a week, but on March 8 a flotilla of 320 boats landed troops ashore. Soldiers from the French coastal batteries tried to prevent the landing, but the British were able to ward off their attack and the next day, Sir Ralph Ebercrombie and the entire British army were already on the coast ^[12] .

Since Renown took part in the Egyptian campaign, which lasted from March 8 to September 2, 1801, his officers and crew received the right to a medal with a “Egypt” buckle, which the Admiralty awarded to all surviving participants in 1850 ^[13] .

In 1803 he took part in the blockade of Toulon , in 1805 he was sent for repairs to Plymouth . After further service in the Canal fleet (1807–1808), he was again transferred to the Mediterranean Sea ^[3] .

In October 1809, Renown (captain Philip Charles Durham) was part of the squadron of Rear Admiral George Martin, who was off the coast of Catalonia and was sent to intercept a small French squadron of Rear Admiral Francois Boden, coming from Toulon . On the morning of October 23, HMS Volontaire discovered the French squadron and the British rushed in pursuit, but lost sight of it. HMS Tigre discovered Robuste, Borée, Lion and Pauline at dawn on October 24, but the fleets again lost each other. Contact was re-established on the morning of October 25, and the chase resumed. Trying to escape prosecution Robuste and Lion stranded near Frontignan. After two hours of fruitless attempts to save the ships, Boden ordered them to sink. They were set on fire and exploded at 10:30 pm ^[14] .

Renown was transferred to the reserve in Plymouth in 1811, was later converted into a blockhash, and from 1814 was used as a hospital ship. In this capacity, he lagged behind until May 1835, when he was scrapped and dismantled ^[1] .

The battleship Renown (unrelated to the real Renown of this period) is present in the series of Cecil Scott Forester ’s novels about Horatio Hornblower . According to the plot of the novel “Lieutenant Hornblower”, the mentally ill captain of the vessel was injured after falling into the hatch, and junior officers were forced to take command of the ship while traveling to the West Indies . The mysterious circumstances of the captain's fall were of great importance for the military tribunal, which dealt with the matter later. In the television series about Hornblower, the fifth and sixth episodes (Mutiny and Payback) were devoted to this story.

• Lavery, B. The Ship of the Line. The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. - Conway Maritime Press, 2003. - Vol. I. - ISBN 0-85177-252-8 .
• JJ Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy From the Fifteenth Century to the Present. - Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987. - ISBN 0-87021-652-X .

• William James. The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume 3, 1800-1805 . - Conway Maritime Press, 2002 [1827]. - ISBN 0-85177-906-9 .

• William James. The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume 5, 1808-1811 . - Conway Maritime Press, 2002 [1827]. - ISBN 0-85177-906-9 . (inaccessible link)

• HMS Renown Index of 19th Century Naval Vessels and a few of their movements (English)
• HMS Renown Ships of the Old Navy (eng.)