Action between H.M.S. Leander and the French National Ship Le Généreux, August 18th 1798, C. H. Seaforth. Généreux visible in the front, Leander damaged in background. |
|
| Career (France) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Généreux |
| Namesake: | Generosity |
| Builder: | Rochefort shipyard |
| Launched: | 1785 |
| Captured: | by Britain, 1800 |
| Career (UK) | |
| Name: | HMS Généreux |
| Acquired: | 1800 |
| Fate: | broken up in 1816 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Téméraire class ship of the line |
| Displacement: | 2900 tonnes |
| Length: | 55.87 metres (172 French feet) |
| Beam: | 14.90 metres (44' 6) |
| Draught: | 7,26 metres (22 French feet) |
| Propulsion: | Up to 2485 m² of sails |
| Complement: | 3 officers and 690 men |
| Armament: |
74 guns:
|
| Armour: | Timber |
The Généreux was a French Téméraire class ship of the line.
She was launched in 1785 at Rochefort. With the Guillaume Tell, she was one of only two ships to escape the British attack at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798.
Shortly after the battle of the Nile, on 18 August 1798, she fell in with a smaller British ship of the line, HMS Leander of 50 guns. After a long battle, the Généreux captured the Leander, with the Leander suffering 35 killed and 57 wounded and the Généreux suffered around 100 killed and 180 wounded.[1]
In March 1799, Généreux escorted a convoy to Corfu. En route, her captain, Lejoille, decided to bombard Brindisi. He was killed in the ensuing exchange of fire, and lieutenant Claude Touffet took over. The city fell on 3 March after a two-hour battle.[2]
On 6 February 1800, Généreux departed from Toulon leading a squadron comprising the frigate Badine, the corvettes Sans Pareille and Fauvette, and the fluyt Ville de Marseille, under Rear-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée. In the morning of 18 February, an English fleet chased the French squadron off Lampedusa island. In the ensuing Battle of the Malta Convoy, Perrée was killed, and Généreux covered the squadron, allowing Badine, Sans Pareille and Fauvette to escape, before striking her colours.
She became HMS Généreux and was finally broken up in 1816.