French ship Scipion (1798)
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 Scale model of the Achille, sister-ship of the Scipion |
|
| Career (France) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Scipion |
| Namesake: | Scipio Africanus |
| Builder: | Lorient |
| Launched: | 1798 |
| Commissioned: | 1802 |
| Honours and awards: |
Participated in: |
| Captured: | 4 November 1805, by Royal Navy |
| Career (UK) |  |
| Name: | HMS Scipion |
| Acquired: | 3 November 1805 |
| Fate: | Broken up, 1819 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Téméraire class ship of the line |
| Tons burthen: | 1884 tons |
| Length: | 182 ft 6 in (55.6 m) (gun deck length) |
| Beam: | 48 ft 8 in (14.8 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 20 ft 4 in (6.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Complement: | 640 |
| Armament: |
74 guns:
|
Scipion was a 74-gun French ship of the line, built at Lorient to a design by Jacques Noel Sane. She was launched as Orient in late 1798, and renamed Scipion in 1801. She was first commissioned in 1802 and joined the French Mediterranean fleet based at Toulon. Consequently she was one of the ships ships afloat in that port when war with England reopened in May 1803.[1] She was one of the ships of Vice Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Dumanoir commanded the six ship vanguard of the French fleet, with Formidable, Scipion, Duguay-Trouin, Mont-Blanc, Intrépide and Neptune. Nelson's attacks left these ships downwind of the main confrontation and Dumanoir did not immediately obey Villeneuve's orders to return to the battle. When the ships did turn back, most of them only exchanged a few shots before retiring.
On 4 November 1805, British Admiral Sir Richard Strachan, with Caesar, Hero, Courageux, Namur and four frigates, defeated and captured what remained of the squadron. Scipion was taken by the HMS Phoenix and HMS Révolutionnaire, and commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Scipion.
[edit] Royal Navy service
Scipion was based in Plymouth until 1811. She then became the flagship of Rear Admiral Hon. R. Stopford. His fleet, consisting of four sail of the line, thirteen frigates, seven sloops and eight cruisers of the East India Company, captured the island of Java on September 18, 1811.
She then was based in the Mediterranean until 29 Oct 1814 when she was paid off at Portsmouth, decommissioned in 1816 and broken up in 1819.
[edit] References
- ^ p195, Goodwin, Peter The Ships of Trafalgar, the British, French and Spanish Fleets October 1805
- Goodwin, Peter The Ships of Trafalgar, the British, French and Spanish Fleets October 1805 pub Conway, 2005. ISBN 1-84486-015-9
- 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.
