HMS ''Ville de Paris'' was a 110-gun
first rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying at least ...
ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...
of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
, launched on 17 July 1795 at
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...
. She was designed by Sir
John Henslow, and was the only ship built to her draught.
She was named after the French ship of the line
''Ville de Paris'', flagship of
François Joseph Paul de Grasse
François Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, Marquis of Grasse-Tilly, KM (13 September 1722 – 11 January 1788) was a French Navy officer. He is best known for his crucial victory over the Royal Navy at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781 during t ...
during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
. That ship had been captured by the Royal Navy at the
Battle of the Saintes
The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...
in April 1782, but in September of that year on the voyage to
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
as a prize, she sank in a
hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...
.
She served as the flagship of
John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent
John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent ( ; 9 January 1735 – 13 March 1823) was a British Royal Navy admiral and politician. He served throughout the latter half of the 18th century and into the 19th, and was an active commander during the Seven ...
, with the
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915.
History
Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history th ...
.
On 17 August 1803, the boats of ''Ville de Paris'' captured the French privateer
''Messager'' from among the rocks off Ushant.
Lloyd's Patriotic Fund The Lloyd's Patriotic Fund is a British patriotic fund and charity. The fund issues financial payments and has issued presentation swords and other awards. The fund was founded on 28 July 1803 at Lloyd's Coffee House by a group of Lloyd's of London ...
awarded Lieutenant Watts, of ''Ville de Paris'', with an honour sword worth £50 for his role in the cutting out expedition. ''Messager'' was pierced for eight guns but had six mounted, and had her owner and 40 men aboard when Watts arrived with his pinnace and 18 men. The British captured her before the other boats from ''Ville de Paris'' could arrive. The French put up a minimal resistance and only suffered a few men lightly wounded; the British suffered no casualties. The action occurred in sight of the
hired armed cutter ''Nimrod''. In January 1805 head and prize money from the proceeds of the French privateer ''Messager'' was due to be paid.
On 18 January 1808, following the
Battle of Corunna
The Battle of Corunna (or ''A Coruña'', ''La Corunna'', ''La Coruña'' or ''La Corogne''), in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a Briti ...
, ''Ville de Paris'' (Captain
John Surman Carden
Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral John Surman Carden (15 August 1771 – 22 April 1858) was an officer of the British Royal Navy in the early nineteenth century. Although the majority of his service was against the French during the Napoleonic Wa ...
) evacuated ''twenty-three officers of the 50th, three of the 43rd, four of the 26th, three of the 18th, one of the 76th, two of the 52nd, two of the 36th, four Royal Engineers, and two Royal Artillery - a total of 44 officers,'' including General
Sir David Baird, his ADC Captain Hon Alexander Gordon, Sir
John Colborne
Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton, (16 February 1778 – 17 April 1863) was a British Army officer and colonial governor. After taking part as a junior officer in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Hollan ...
and Lieutenant Henry Percy. ''Ville de Paris'' also embarked several thousand soldiers.
Later,
Admiral Collingwood
Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood (26 September 1748 – 7 March 1810) was an admiral of the Royal Navy. Collingwood was born in Newcastle upon Tyne and later lived in Morpeth, Northumberland. He entered the Royal Navy at ...
died aboard her of cancer while on service in the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
, off
Port Mahón, on 7 March 1810.
On 22 July 1814, at the conclusion of the Peninsula War, ''Ville de Paris'' arrived off Portsmouth carrying the 43rd Light Infantry Battalion along with the 2nd Rifles.
[Urban, see below]
''Ville de Paris'' was placed on harbour service in 1824, and she was broken up in 1845.
Notes
References
*British National Archives. ''Passengers on warships.''(TNA ADM 12, section 72.2)
*Carden, John Surman (1912). ''A curtail'd memoir ... '' Ed Atkinson, C. T., Oxford.
*
*Costello, Edward (1841). ''Memoirs of Edward Costello KSF.'' Henry Colburn, London. Also published as ''The True Story of a Peninsular Rifleman,'' Singlepicker Press, 1997.
*
*Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650–1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. .
*Mahon, William (2017). ''Waterloo Messenger: The Life of Henry Percy, Peninsular Soldier and French Prisoner of War.'' Pen and Sword.
*Urban, Mark (2003). ''Rifles: Six Years with Wellington's Legendary Sharpshooters.'' Faber & Faber.
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ville de Paris
Ships of the line of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy ship names
1795 ships