French ship Formidable (1795)

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Formidable was an 80-gun third-rate ship of the line of the French navy. She was launched at Toulon in 1795.

In 1801 she fought in the Battle of Algeciras and was badly damaged. In 1802 and 1803, she served in Toulon under Admiral Latouche Tréville.

On 17 January 1805, she went to sea under Admiral Villeneuve, together with ten other ships of the line and eight frigates, and on 20 January the fleet sailed for the Martinique in the Caribbean, which it reached on 13 May. The fleet captured Diamond Rock from the British, but Villeneuve returned to Europe on hearing that Nelson had arrived in the West Indies.

On 22 June 1805, the returning Franco-Spanish fleet was intercepted by a British fleet under Sir Robert Calder, resulting in the Battle of Cape Finisterre. After a violent artillery exchange and the capture of two of the Spanish ships, the fleets were separated in the fog. Exhausted after six months at sea, the fleet anchored in Cádiz to rest and refit. With his command under question and planning to meet the British fleet to gain a decisive victory, Villeneuve left Cádiz and met the British fleet near Cape Trafalgar.

Formidable was the flagship of vice-admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley, who commanded the six-ship vanguard of the French fleet, along with Formidable, Scipion, Duguay-Trouin, Mont-Blanc, Intrépide and Neptune. The vanguard was kept as a reserve, and joined the battle around 16:00. They only sailed close to the battle and fired a few shots.

On 3 November 1805, British Admiral Sir Richard Strachan, with Caesar, Hero, Courageux, Namur and four frigates, defeated and captured what remained of the squadron. Formidable was taken and commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Brave.