French order of battle in the Expédition d'Irlande
Preparation for the invasion was slow throughout the autumn, and it was not until December that the force was ready to leave
By the last week of December 1796 the fleet was in full retreat, having failed to land a single soldier in Ireland.
In total, French losses were 12 ships captured or destroyed and over 2,000 men drowned.
Order of battle
Ships of the line | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ship | Guns | Commander | Notes | |||||||
Indomptable | 80 | Commodore Jacques Bedout | Returned to Brest on 1 January. | |||||||
Droits de l'Homme | 74 | Commodore Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse | Wrecked on 14 January 1797 in action with HMS Indefatigable and HMS Amazon. Over 1,000 men drowned. | |||||||
Constitution | 74 | Commodore Louis L'Hériter
|
Returned to Brest on 11 January. | |||||||
Pegase | 74 | Contre-amiral Joseph de Richery Commodore Clement Laronier |
Returned to Brest on 11 January. | |||||||
Nestor | 74 | Commodore Charles Linois
|
Returned to Brest on 13 January. | |||||||
Révolution | 74 | Commodore Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley | Returned to Rochefort on 13 January. | |||||||
Fougueux | 74 | Commodore Esprit-Tranquille Maistral | Returned to Brest on 1 January. | |||||||
Trajan | 74 | Commodore Julien Le Ray | Returned to Brest on 11 January. | |||||||
Mucius | 74 | Commodore Pierre Quérangal | Returned to Brest on 1 January. | |||||||
Tourville | 74 | Captain Jean-Baptiste Henry | Returned to Brest on 13 January. | |||||||
Pluton | 74 | Captain Jean-Marie Lebrun | Returned to Brest on 11 January. | |||||||
Éole | 74 | Captain Joseph-Pierre-André Malin | Returned to Brest on 13 January. | |||||||
Wattignies | 74 | Captain Henri-Alexandre Thévenard
|
Returned to Brest on 11 January. | |||||||
Cassard | 74 | Captain Dufay | Returned to Brest on 13 January. | |||||||
Redoutable | 74 | Captain Pierre-Augustin Moncousu | Returned to Brest on 1 January. | |||||||
Patriote | 74 | Captain La Fargue | Returned to Brest on 1 January. | |||||||
Séduisant | 74 | Commodore Jean-Baptiste Henry | Wrecked on 16 December 1796 on the Stevenant Rock near Brest. 680 men drowned. | |||||||
Source: James, pp. 4–5, Clowes, p. 298 |
Frigates | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ship | Guns | Commander | Notes | |||||||
Scévola
|
44 | captain Le Bozec | Scuttled after storm damage on 30 December 1796. | |||||||
Impatiente | 40 | Wrecked on 30 December 1796 near Crookhaven. Nearly 550 men drowned. | ||||||||
Romaine | 40 | Returned to Brest. | ||||||||
Immortalité | 40 | Flagship of Contre-amiral François Joseph Bouvet | Returned to Brest. | |||||||
Tartu | 40 | Captured on 30 December 1796 by HMS Polyphemus. | ||||||||
Bellone | 32 | Returned to Brest. | ||||||||
Bravoure | 40 | Returned to Lorient. | ||||||||
Charente
|
36 | Returned to Brest. | ||||||||
Cocarde | 40 | Returned to Brest. | ||||||||
Fraternité | 32 | Flagship of Vice-amiral Morard de Galles | Returned to Rochefort on 13 January. | |||||||
Résolue | 32 | Flagship of Contre-amiral Joseph Marie Nielly
|
Badly damaged in collision with Indomptable. Returned to Brest on 13 January. | |||||||
Sirène
|
36 | Returned to Brest. | ||||||||
Surveillante | 32 | Wrecked in Bantry Bay on 30 December 1797. | ||||||||
Source: James, pp. 4–5, Clowes, p. 298 |
Corvettes | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ship | Guns | Commander | Notes | |||||||
Affronteur | 16 | Returned to Brest. | ||||||||
Vautour | 16 | Returned to Brest. | ||||||||
Atalante
|
20 | Captured on 10 January 1797 by HMS Phoebe. | ||||||||
Voltigeur | 16 | Returned to Brest. | ||||||||
Mutine | 14 | Captured on 29 May 1797 at Santa Cruz .
| ||||||||
Renard | 16 | Returned to Brest. | ||||||||
Source: James, pp. 4–5, Clowes, p. 298 |
Transports | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ship | Guns | Commander | Notes | |||||||
Nicodème | Returned to Brest. | |||||||||
Justine | Disarmed frigate. Captured on 30 December 1796 by HMS Polyphemus. | |||||||||
Fille Unique | Sank in the Bay of Biscay on 6 January 1797. | |||||||||
Ville de Lorient | Disarmed frigate. Captured on 7 January 1797 by HMS Unicorn, HMS Doris and HMS Druid. | |||||||||
Suffren | Disarmed frigate. Captured on 30 December 1796 by HMS Jason, recaptured by Tartu and captured again and destroyed on 8 January 1797 by HMS Daedalus. | |||||||||
Allègre | Captured on 12 January 1797 by HMS Spitfire .
| |||||||||
Expériment | Returned to Brest. | |||||||||
Source: James, pp. 4–5, Clowes, p. 298 |
Notes
References
Bibliography
- ISBN 1-86176-013-2.
- Come, Donald R. (Winter 1952). "French Threat to British Shores, 1793–1798". Military Affairs. 16 (4). Society for Military History: 174–188. JSTOR 1982368.
- Gardiner, Robert, ed. (2001) [1996]. Fleet Battle and Blockade. Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-363-X.
- Henderson CBE, James (1994) [1970]. The Frigates. Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-432-6.
- ISBN 0-85177-906-9.
- ISBN 978-0-349-11252-7. Rev. ed.
- ISBN 0-233-99978-7.
- ISBN 1-84119-183-3.