French ship Algésiras (1804)

For other ships of the same name, see French ship Algésiras.
Scale model of the Achille, sister-ship of the Algésiras, on display at the Musée de la Marine in Paris
Career (France)
Name: Algésiras
Namesake: Battle of Algeciras
Builder: Lorient
Laid down: 1804
Launched: 1804
Captured: By the Royal Navy, 21 October 1805
By the French Navy, 22 October 1805
By Spain, 14 June 1808
Career (Spain)
Name: Algeciras
Captured: 14 June 1808
Fate: Broken up in 1826
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement:2,900 tonnes
Length:55.87 m (183 ft 4 in) (172 French feet)
Beam:14.90 m (48 ft 11 in) (44' 6")
Draught:7.26 m (23 ft 10 in) (22 French feet)
Propulsion:Up to 2485 m² of sails
Complement:3 officers + 690 men
Armament:74 guns:
  • 28 × 36-pounder (16 kg)
  • 30 × 24-pounder (11 kg)
  • 16 × 8-pounder (3.6 kg)
  • 4 × 36-pounder (16 kg) carronades
Armour:Timber

Algésiras was a Téméraire class 74-gun French ship of the line built at Lorient in 1804, named after the Battle of Algeciras.

In 1805 she sailed to the West Indies with Aigle where they joined a French fleet under Vice-Admiral Villeneuve.

In October 1805 she took part in the Battle of Trafalgar, under Rear Admiral Charles Magon. She was engaged by HMS Tonnant at point-blank range, and Magon attempted a boarding, but the boarding party was annihilated by British fire which killed all but one of the party, who was made prisoner. Magon was killed. The fight went on for an hour with Tonnant‍ '​s starboard guns duelling with the Algésiras, the port guns with Pluton, and the forward guns aimed at the San Juan Nepomuceno. Algésiras finally surrendered to Tonnant at around 14:30.

During the storm after the battle, her crew rose up against the British prize crew, and recaptured the ship. She sailed to Cádiz flying French colours.

On 14 June 1808 she was captured by the Spanish along with all the other French ships in Cadiz.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Clouet, Alain (2007). "La marine de Napoléon III : classe Téméraire - caractéristiques". dossiersmarine.free.fr. Retrieved 4 April 2013.