HMS ''Hercule'' was a

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently de ...

third rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Rating When the rating system was f ...

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 ...

. She was previously ''Hercule'', a ship of the line of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

, but was captured on her maiden voyage in 1798, and spent the rest of her career as a British ship. She was broken up in 1810.

French career and capture

During her maiden journey, on 21 April 1798, and just 24 hours out of port, she was captured by the British ship after a violent fight at the

Battle of the Raz de Sein The Battle of the Raz de Sein was a single-ship naval engagement of the blockade of Brest during the French Revolutionary Wars between a French and Royal Navy ships of the line on 21 April 1798. The British blockade fleet under Admiral Lord ...

, off

Île de Sein The Île de Sein is a Breton island in the Atlantic Ocean, off Finistère, eight kilometres from the Pointe du Raz (''raz'' meaning "water current"), from which it is separated by the Raz de Sein. Its Breton name is ''Enez-Sun''. The islan ...

near Brest. ''Hercule'' attempted to escape through the Passage du Raz, but the tide was running in the wrong direction, and she was forced to anchor, giving the British the chance to attack at close quarters. The two ships were of equal force, both seventy-fours, but ''Hercule'' was newly commissioned; after more than an hour and a half of bloody fighting at close quarters she struck her colours at 10.30 pm, having lost — by her own officers' estimate — 290 men killed and wounded. On ''Mars,'' 31 men were killed, including her captain, Alexander Hood, and 60 wounded. Captain Louis Lhéritier of ''Hercule'' was wounded by sabre and spike leading his boarding party. The ''Hercule'' was recommissioned in the

as HMS ''Hercule''.

British career

In mid-1803, the squadron under Captain

Henry William Bayntun Admiral Sir Henry William Bayntun GCB (1766 – 16 December 1840) was a senior officer in the Royal Navy, whose distinguished career in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars was a catalogue of the highest and lowest points of the Navy dur ...

, consisting of , ''Hercule'', , , and captured ''

Poisson Volant ''Poisson Volant'' (''Flying Fish''), was a popular name for French vessels, including naval vessels and privateers. Between 1760 and 1814, warships of the Royal Navy captured numerous privateers named ''Poisson Volant''. *In April 1760 the frigate ...

'' and . The Royal Navy took both into service. In May 1803, ''Hercules captain Solomon Ferris died suddenly on board the ship. On 28 June 1803, during the

Blockade of Saint-Domingue The blockade of Saint-Domingue was a naval campaign fought during the first months of the Napoleonic Wars in which a series of British Royal Navy squadrons blockaded the French-held ports of Cap-Français and Môle-Saint-Nicolas on the norther ...

in the Caribbean ''Hercule'' was under First Lieutenant John B. Hills, acting captain as Ferris had died a month before. She encountered the French frigate and the corvette , and attempted to capture ''Poursuivante''. However, the latter outmaneuvered and delivered

raking fire In naval warfare during the Age of Sail, raking fire was Naval artillery in the Age of Sail, cannon fire directed parallel to the long axis of an enemy ship from ahead (in front of the ship) or astern (behind the ship). Although each shot was d ...

to assure her escape. ''Hercule'' was stricken across its rigging and dropped out of the fight.

Louis-Philippe Crépin Louis-Philippe Crépin (1772, Paris – 26 November 1851, Paris) was a French marine painter. Together with Théodore Gudin, he was appointed as one of France's first two Peintres de la Marine in 1830.Ministère de l'instruction publique et des be ...

painted the sails, sky, smoke and fire in his relevant seascape. then captured ''Mignonne''. ''Hercule'', under Captain Dun, participated in the failed attempt in January 1804 to capture

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

. ''Hercule'', was caught 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 ...

off San Domingo between 4 and 11 September 1804, both she and HMS ''

Theseus Theseus (, ; ) was a divine hero in Greek mythology, famous for slaying the Minotaur. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes desc ...

'' were badly damaged, but eventually survived to reach

Port Royal Port Royal () was a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the cen ...

on 15 September.

Fate

She was broken up in 1810.Roche, p.240

Citations

References

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External links