HMS Swiftsure (1787)
Indivisible and Dix-Août capture Swiftsure
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History | |
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Great Britain | |
Name | HMS Swiftsure |
Ordered | 19 June 1782 |
Builder | John & William Wells, Deptford |
Laid down | May 1784 |
Launched | 4 April 1787 |
Honours and awards |
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Captured | 24 June 1801, by French Navy |
France | |
Name | Swiftsure |
Acquired | 24 June 1801 |
Honours and awards | Participated in Battle of Trafalgar |
Captured | 21 October 1805, by Royal Navy |
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Irresistible |
Acquired | 21 October 1805 |
Fate | Broken up, January 1816 |
General characteristics [2] | |
Class and type | Elizabeth class ship of the line |
Tons burthen | 1612 (bm) |
Length | 168 ft 6 in (51.36 m) (gundeck) |
Beam | 46 ft (14 m) |
Depth of hold | 19 ft 9 in (6.02 m) |
Propulsion | Sails |
Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
Armament |
HMS Swiftsure was a
Construction and commissioning
Swiftsure was ordered from the yards of John & William Wells,
British career
She was commissioned for service under her first captain,
At the action of 7 May 1794 Swiftsure captured the 36-gun French frigate Atalante, after a chase of 39 hours. Atalante was armed with 38 guns and had a crew of 274 men under the command of M. Charles Linois. In the action, Atalante had 10 killed and 32 wounded; British casualties were one man killed by a random shot.[4] Swiftsure then returned to Plymouth to carry out repairs. The Royal Navy took Atalante into service as HMS Espion.
Swiftsure left Britain for Jamaica on 14 May 1795.[3] In December 1795 Swiftsure passed under the command of Captain Robert Parker, under whom she returned to Britain. She was refitted at Portsmouth the following year, before commissioning in October 1796 under Captain Arthur Phillips.[3] He was succeeded in September 1797 by Captain John Irwin, but the following month Captain Benjamin Hallowell took command.[3]
Battle of the Nile
Hallowell was still in command of Swiftsure in 1798, when he was ordered to join
Hallowell took Swiftsure in, eventually anchoring across the stern of
After the destruction of the Orient, Swiftsure, in company with
Egyptian and Italian coasts
Swiftsure initially remained off Egypt as part of Samuel Hood's squadron, before departing on 14 February 1799 to join Nelson, then at Palermo. She then joined Thomas Troubridge's squadron and sailed for Naples on 31 March.[5] They arrived on 2 April, and Hallowell landed at Procida to restore monarchist rule. The squadron then cruised off the Italian coast, and supported land based operations, helping to reduce several fortresses. On 7 August Swiftsure was dispatched to Civitavecchia to carry Hallowell to negotiate the surrender of the French garrison.[5] Before the negotiations were complete the Swiftsure was ordered to Gibraltar, and from there to Lisbon, arriving there on 30 November. She cruised off the area with the British squadron, capturing two merchant vessels on 6 December.[5]
Whilst at sea in February 1800, Swiftsure was caught in a gale and badly damaged, having to return to Gibraltar for repairs.
On 8 January 1801 Penelope captured the French bombard St. Roche, which was carrying wine, liqueurs, ironware, Delfth cloth, and various other merchandise, from Marseilles to Alexandria. Swiftsure, Tigre, Minotaur, Northumberland, Florentina, and the schooner Malta, were in sight and shared in the proceeds of the capture.[6]
Swiftsure's service in the Royal Navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 2 September 1801), qualified her officers and crew for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the
Capture
On 10 June 1801 Hallowell encountered
On his repatriation, Hallowell received the court-martial that was automatic for a Royal Navy captain who had lost his ship, but was honourably acquitted.[5] Meanwhile, the French Navy took Swiftsure into service under her own name.[9]
French service
In November 1802, after General de Rochambeau replaced Charles Leclerc as governor of Saint-Domingue, Rochambeau started executing blacks by drowning; he had the entire garrison of Fort Dauphin transferred to Swiftsure and thrown overboard by her crew.[10] Rochambeau then ordered all French ships to carry out similar executions. Only Willaumez, who was in command of the naval forces, refused, stating that "The officers of the French Navy are not executioners. I will not obey."[10][11][Note 2]
Battle of Trafalgar
She only spent four years with the French, before forming part of Vice-Admiral Villeneuve's fleet at Cadiz, under her captain, Charles-Eusebe l'Hôpitalier-Villemadrin. On 21 October 1805 she sailed out with the combined Franco-Spanish fleets to engage in the Battle of Trafalgar. During the battle she formed part of the rear of the line, astern of Aigle and ahead of Argonaute.[12] She was fired upon by HMS Colossus, and after an exchange of fire, lost her main topmast and had her guns silenced. She began to drift away, while Colossus opened fire on Bahama.[13] Swiftsure's crew regained control, and returned to fire on Colossus, but at that moment Edward Codrington's HMS Orion came through the smoke, slipped under Swiftsure′s stern and discharged several devastating broadsides.[14] Swiftsure had her mainmast, taffrail and wheel shot away, and most of the guns on the main gun-deck were dismounted.[14] Villemadrin attempted to fight on, but eventually struck, having suffered 68 dead and 123 wounded during the battle.
After the battle HMS Dreadnought took her in tow.[15] The subsequent storm caused the line to break, and by 23 October she was drifting towards Cadiz.[16] The frigate HMS Phoebe was however able to reattach a tow line and put several of her own carpenters aboard to stop the leaks.[17] The worsening weather again caused her to break free, but the men from Phoebe succeeded in keeping control of Swiftsure, bringing her to anchor on 26 October.[18] HMS Polyphemus took her into tow again and brought her into Gibraltar.[19]
Swiftsure was repaired at Gibraltar and was recommissioned in April 1806 under Captain George Digby.[3] She sailed home, arriving at Chatham on 11 June 1806. By this time, another HMS Swiftsure had already entered service, and had been present at Trafalgar. The captured Swiftsure was renamed HMS Irresistible, and was laid up.[2][3] She was recommissioned in March 1808 under Captain George Fowke, and was used as a prison ship at Chatham.[3] She served in this role until being broken up there in January 1816.[2][3]
Notes
Citations
- ^ "No. 21077". The London Gazette. 15 March 1850. pp. 791–792.
- ^ a b c d Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p179.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Winfield. British Warships. Chap. 3, p. 76.
- ^ "No. 13659". The London Gazette. 21 May 1794. p. 463.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "SWIFTSURE (74)". Retrieved 15 October 2008.
- ^ "No. 15358". The London Gazette. 25 April 1801. p. 447.
- ^ "No. 17915". The London Gazette. 3 April 1823. p. 633.
- ^ a b c "No. 15437". The London Gazette. 19 December 1801. pp. 1505–1506.
- ^ Capture du Swiftsure
- ^ a b Herpin, p.78
- ^ Merrien, p.114
- ^ Trafalgar. pp. 196–7.
- ^ Trafalgar. p. 228.
- ^ a b Trafalgar. p. 230.
- ^ Trafalgar. p. 275.
- ^ Trafalgar. p. 299.
- ^ Trafalgar. p. 317.
- ^ Trafalgar. p. 328.
- ^ Trafalgar. p. 345.
References
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Herpin, Eugène (1913). Mémoires du Chevalier de Fréminville (1787-1848) (in French). Paris: Librairie ancienne H. Champion.
- Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
- Clayton, Tim; Craig, Phil (2004). Trafalgar: The Men, The Battle, The Storm. Hodder.
- Career of HMS Swiftsure at ageofnelson.org
- HMS Swiftsure, naval database