HMS Tonnant (His Majesty’s Tonnant Ship) is an 80-gun battleship of the third rank . It was originally a French ship of the Tonnant type, but was captured by the British fleet during the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798. Subsequently, the ship became part of the Royal Navy, retaining its original name. He continued his service until 1818, taking part in many battles of the Napoleonic Wars and the Anglo-American War , including the Battle of Trafalgar .
Hms tonnant | |
---|---|
Hms tonnant | |
Tonnant during the battle of the Nile | |
Service | |
France | |
Ship class and type | Tonnant battleship |
Type of sailing equipment | Three-masted ship |
Construction started | November 1787 |
Launched | October 12, 1789 |
Removed from the fleet | captured by the British on 2 August 1798 |
Service | |
Great Britain | |
Ship class and type | battleship 3 rank |
Type of sailing equipment | Three-masted ship |
Organization | Royal Navy |
Commissioned | August 2, 1798 |
Removed from the fleet | dismantled, 1821 |
Main characteristics | |
Displacement | 2281 tons (BM) |
Gondek length | 194 feet 2 inches (59.2 m) |
Keel length | 160 feet (48.8 m) |
Mid- width width | 51 feet 9 inches (15.8 m) |
Depth of intrum | 23 feet 3 inches (7.1 m) |
Engines | Sail |
Crew | 700 |
Armament | |
Total number of guns | 80 |
Guns on the gandek | 32 × 32 pound guns |
Operdeck guns | 32 × 18 fn. guns |
Guns on shkantsah | 2 × 8 fn. cannons + 14 × 36 fn. carronades |
Tank guns | 4 × 32 fn. carronades |
French Service
In 1793, Tonnant was anchored in Toulon , when the royalists called the British fleet Admiral Hood there . When the republican troops headed by the young captain Napoleon Bonaparte stormed the most important fort of Malbuk, and then occupied another fort, Aiguille, the Anglo-Spanish squadron could not remain both on the large and on the small roads, and therefore Hood ordered, putting the garrison on court, immediately anchors. Of the 46 French ships moored in the harbor, nine were flamed by the British, 12 went to sea with the Allies, and only 25 ships fell back into the hands of the Republicans. Among the latter was Tonnant [1] .
On March 2, 1795, Tonnant , under the command of Captain Julien Cosmao, in the French squadron of Rear Admiral Pierre Martin of fifteen ships of the line and seven frigates, sailed from Toulon to Corsica . Due to weak and unfavorable winds, the French fleet arrived in Corsica on March 8. On the morning of March 8th, squadron frigates attacked and captured the British 74-gun ship Berwick [2] .
March 14, 1795 Tonnant took part in the Battle of Genoa, in which the French squadron of Pierre Martin fought with the British squadron of Vice Admiral William Hotham . The battle ended with the capture of two French ships, the 80-gun Ca Ira and the 74-gun Censeur , which were cut off from the rest of the fleet. Tonnant , Duquesne and Victoire attempted to help the cut off ships by firing on Illustrious and Courageux , attacking Ca Ira and Censeur , but were eventually forced to retreat and leave two ships to their fate. In this short exchange of fire, Tonnant suffered no casualties [3] .
Tonnant , under the command of Captain Aristide Aubert Dupetit-Thuar , was part of the French squadron of François-Paul Bruisses , who covered the transports with troops sent to capture Egypt . After the landing of troops, Bruayis went along with the fleet to Aboukir Bay , where the ships anchored in the battle line under the protection of a flotilla of gunboats, four frigates and batteries on the island of Abukir. On the evening of August 1, 1798, the Battle on the Nile began half an hour before sunset, when the French fleet was attacked by the Nelson squadron. Tonnant entered the center of the French fleet, located immediately behind the flagship of Bruis, the 120-gun Orient . Tonnant was attacked by the 74-gun ship Majestic , which, with its lesser on-board volley, suffered much more than Tonnant , losing about two hundred people, 50 killed and 143 wounded [4] . Among the dead was Captain Majestic , George Westcott. Captain Dupetite-Thouars was seriously wounded and soon died from wounds. Tonnant was the only French ship that continued to fight with the onset of morning, although it ran aground. He gave up only on the morning of August 3, when it became obvious that there was no chance of getting away from the British [5] .
The ship became part of the Royal Navy on December 9, 1798, retaining its original name. He arrived at the naval base at Plymouth on July 17, 1799. Tonnant was commissioned under the command of Captain Loftus Blend in January 1799. In February, he was replaced by Captain Robert Fitzgerald, under the command of which Tonnant sailed to Gibraltar , and then returned to the UK. Upon arrival in Plymouth in 1800, he was sent to the reserve [6] .
British Service
Tonnant underwent repairs between December 1801 and April 1803. He was commissioned in March 1803 under the command of Captain Sir Edward Pellew . Tonnant was sent to the Atlantic, where he took part in the blockade of Ferrol [6] .
On August 14, 1803, the East Indian ship Lord Nelson was captured by the French marque Belone . The prize crew was sent aboard the captured ship, which led the ship to La Coruna . On August 25, Lord Nelson was spotted by the 18-gun brig of Seagull , who tried to recapture the ship, but after receiving damage to the rigging was forced to temporarily withdraw from the battlefield. By this time, a British squadron under the command of Edward Pelleu on Tonnant appeared in sight , and the French on Lord Nelson , seeing that further resistance was deliberate, surrendered to Colossus , the advanced ship of the squadron [7] .
Tonnant was part of the squadron of Rear Admiral Sir Robert Caldera , which near the Cape Ortegal collided with two French 74-gun ships Duguay-Trouin and Guerriere on September 2, 1803. Two French warships attempted to break through the British blockade when they met Tonnant . They rushed after him in pursuit, but noticing the main forces of the squadron were forced to retreat and return to the port of A Coruña .
Tonnant in the squadron split the prize money for capturing Perseverance on October 28, 1803 and capturing the Ardent of the Bayonnoise on October 29. The following year, on February 18, 1804, Tonnant and the squadron ships beat off the brigade Eliza [8] .
In the second half of 1804, Tonnant was part of the Canal fleet under the command of Captain William Henry Jervis. However, the captain drowned near Brest during the transition on his gee from Tonnant to San Josef on January 26, 1805 [9] . Jervis had just arrived from Rochefort, and very much wanted to pay his respects to the squadron commander. Instead, the command of the ship in March 1805 took Captain Charles Tyler [6] .
On October 21, 1805, Belleisle , under the command of Captain William Hargood, was a member of Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood in the Battle of Trafalgar . Belleisle was the fourth ship in the line, located between the 74-gun Mars and Bellerophon . He came to the aid of Mars , which came under heavy fire from the 74-gun ships Monarca and Algesiras [10] . Tonnant headed towards the front of Algesiras , fired a few volleys at him, and then turned to Monarca , who soon lowered the flag (though later he raised it again). By this time, Algesiras tried to go behind the stern Tonnant , who had lost the Fock-Stengu and the grotto-ray, but Tonnant managed to turn and hit Algesiras , tearing down his bowsprit, damaging the anchor and entangling himself. Tonnant , clinging to the Algesiras, fired his starboard guns and fired the left side guns at Pluton and San-Juan-Nepomuceno . At about 1:40 pm, Captain Tyler was wounded and Lt. John Bedford took command of the ship. Tonnant and Algesiras continued the exchange of volleys for some time, as a result of which the foremast was knocked down on Algesiras , and Tonnant lost the grotto and cruise stegs . The crew of the Algesiras attempted to board the British ship, but after coming under heavy fire from the marines was forced to retreat [11] .
At 2:15 pm, the French ship, which had lost its main and mast masts by this time, lowered its flag and Lieutenant Charles Bennett, with Marine Corps Lieutenant Arthur Ball and a detachment of 48 sailors climbed aboard to take possession of the prize. After another quarter of an hour, San-Juan-Nepomuceno surrendered, and Lieutenant Benjamin Clement was sent to take possession of the prize [11] . However, his boat was smashed by a yard and he and his men with great difficulty managed to get back to the ship. In the battle, Tonnant was seriously injured, he had damaged the steering wheel and the bow of the starboard side (after the encounter with Algesiras). Losses on board amounted to 26 people killed and 50 wounded [12] .
Tonnant underwent repairs in Portsmouth from January to June 1806. He re-entered service in May under the command of Captain Thomas Brown. He then served as Rear Admiral Eliab Harvey's flagship [6] .
In July 1807, under the command of Captain Richard Hancock, he served as the flagship of Rear Admiral Michaela de Courcy. In April 1809, the ship was under the command of Captain James Bowen when he fought off Ann of Leith on April 8. Then Tonnant was one of the ships that divided the prize money for seizing Goede Hoop on July 9 and Carl Ludwig on August 2 [13] .
In the period from November to December 1809, he underwent repairs in Plymouth. In 1810, he served under the command of Captain Sir John Gore. On March 24, 1812, still under the command of Gore, he was in the area of Ushant when the French marque took over Emilie . Emilie was armed with twelve 10-pound cannons and had a crew of 84 people. He left nine days ago from Saint-Malo and seized a Spanish merchant ship that the Royal Navy repulsed on the same day. While he was part of a squadron on the Basque raid, Captain Gore was badly injured after falling from the mainmast. Tonnant , who was in poor condition, returned to Portsmouth in August 1812, after which he was sent to Chatham for repair [14] .
He was preparing to go to sea in the first quarter of 1814, re-commissioned in January under the command of Captain Alexander Skene [6] . In October, Captain Charles Kerr took command, after which Tonnant served as Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane’s flagship during most of the campaign in the Chesapeake Bay. Tonnant continued to serve as Cochrane's flagship when he led the British naval forces at the Battle of New Orleans. Before this battle, the Tonnant boats took part in the Battle of Lake Borne [15] .
Between December 12 and 15, 1814, Captain Lockyer and Sophie led a flotilla of 50 boats, barges, and guards to attack US gunboats. Lockyer divided the boats into three groups, one of which he headed himself. Captain Montresor from the brig Manly commanded the second, and Captain Roberts with Meteor commanded the third. The British rowed the oars for 36 hours before they met the Americans at the island of St. Joseph. On December 13, 1814, the British attacked the Sea Horse schooner. On the morning of December 14, a short, fierce battle took place [15] .
The British captured or destroyed almost the entire American flotilla, including the tender, Alligator , and five gunboats. The British lost 17 people killed and 77 wounded, of which Tonnant lost 3 killed and 15 wounded, one of whom died. For this battle in 1847, the Admiralty issued a medal with a buckle "14 Dec Boat Service 1814", which was awarded to all the surviving participants in this battle.
Tonnant returned to England in May 1815. He then served as the flagship of Admiral Lord Keith and took part in the expulsion of Napoleon to St. Helena in 1815, although he was not part of the flotilla that accompanied him there. From 1816 to 1817, he was the flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell at the station in Cork [6] .
In November 1818, Tonnant was sent to the reserve, and in March 1821 it was decided to send the ship for scrapping [6] .
Notes
- ↑ Clowes, 1997 , p. 204.
- ↑ James, 1837 , Vol. 1, p. 255.
- ↑ James, 1837 , Vol. 1, p. 260
- ↑ James, 1837 , Vol. 2, p. 169.
- ↑ James, 1837 , Vol. 2, p. 173.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Winfield, 2008 , p. 33.
- ↑ James, 1837 , Vol. 3, p. 196.
- ↑ №15718, p. 855 (Eng.) // London Gazette : Newspaper. - L .. - Iss. 15718 . - No. 15718 . - P. 855 . - ISSN 0374-3721 .
- ↑ Grocott, 1997 , p. 192.
- ↑ James, 1837 , Vol. 4, p. 48.
- ↑ 1 2 James, 1837 , Vol. 4, p. 50.
- ↑ James, 1837 , Vol. 4, p. 51.
- ↑ №16435, p. 2008 (Eng.) // London Gazette : Newspaper. - L .. - Iss. 16435 . - No. 16435 . - P. 2008 . - ISSN 0374-3721 .
- ↑ Ships of the Old Navy
- ↑ 1 2 No. 16991, p. 446-449 (Eng.) // London Gazette : Newspaper. - L .. - Iss. 16991 . - No. 16991 . P. 446-449 . - ISSN 0374-3721 .
Literature
- 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 .
- Rif winfield. = British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. - Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing, 2008. - ISBN 1-86176-246-1 .
- Jean-Michel Roche. Dictionnaire des Bâtiments de la Flotte de Guerre Française de Colbert à nos Jours. - Group Retozel-Maury Millau, 2005.
- William James. History of the Great Britain from the Declaration of War IV in France. - R. Bentley, 1837. - ISBN 0-85177-906-9 .
- William Laird Clowes . The Royal Navy, A History of the Earliest Times to 1900. - London: Chatham Publishing, 1997. - Vol. Iv. - ISBN 1-86176-013-2 .
- Terence Grocott. Shipwrecks of the revolutionary & Napoleonic eras. - Chatham, 1997. - ISBN 1-86176-030-2 .
Links
- HMS Tonnant Index of 19th Century Naval Vessels and a few of their movements
- HMS Tonnant Ships of the Old Navy (eng.)