All at Sea - British Third Rates of Renown (HMS Tonnant)

The Tonnant, in action and dismasted, with her colours nailed to a stump and her captain mortally wounded but still commanding fron his quarterdeck at the Battle of the Nile 1st August 1798 - Louis Le Breton (National Maritime Museum)

HMS Tonnant, was the French ship Le Tonnant, meaning 'Thundering', an 80-gun ship designed by the great French ship designer Jaques-Noel Sane and built in the Toulon shipyard, launching there on the 24th October 1789.

The Anglo-Spanish and their allies forced to depart from Toulon in 1793, attempting to destroy naval materials that they cannot take away. In the chaotic withdrawal, Le Tonnant 80-guns was left to the Republican forces.

She seemed destined not to serve her French builders, as the Tonnant fell into Anglo-Spanish hands in August 1793, when Admiral Sir Samuel Hood captured her after leading the combined allied fleet into the harbour in support of French Royalists who invited them in to help defend the city from Republican forces; however she was one of the ships left behind and intact when the allies were forced to withdraw.

Following the allied withdrawal and through 1794, the French concentrated on recreating their Mediterranean squadron under Contre-amiral (Rear Admiral) Pierre Martin, seeing him make a brief sally in June of that year with seven ships of the line, and achieving some success with the capture of the Sardinian frigate Alceste on the 8th June, but was quickly back in Toulon after being confronted by Admiral Hood and the British fleet now operating a loose blockade out of the island of Corsica.

Contre-amiral (Rear Admiral) Pierre Martin

By 1795 the French Mediterranean squadron was back up to its former power and Admiral Martin was ordered to sea, setting sail on the 3rd of March 1795 for operations in the Ligurian Sea north of Corsica. 

It would seem the purpose of Martin's expedition is unclear, but it was either to support French troops along the coast or to protect a planned invasion of Corsica, with a troop convoy assembled in Toulon.

Le Tonnant's first commander Captain Julien Marie Cosmao-Kerjulien

Either way, Tonnant was one of the thirteen ships of the line supported by six frigates that set sail under her new commander Captain Julien Marie Cosmao-Kerjulien who had taken command in December 1794.

The British fleet was now commanded by the rather inept Vice Admiral William Hotham who took command when Admiral Hood was summoned home late in 1794 and it was under his command that its fourteen ships of the line made contact with Martin's squadron off Cape Noli in the Gulf of Genoa on the 11th March, and with the French turning to run for Toulon, caused Hotham to signal a general chase.

I think the figurehead and stern galleries on the model are highly speculative, but I like them and they certainly add character.

Hotham finally caught up with the rear of Martin's squadron on the 13th March some 20 nautical miles south west of Genoa, with the French under full sail for Toulon, but with the Ca Ira 80-guns under tow from the Censeur 74-guns, this following the former losing its fore and main topmast in a collision with another French ship, the Victoire 80-guns, and then being damaged further following an aggressive attack by Captain Horatio Nelson aboard HMS Agamemnon 64-guns and the frigate HMS Inconstant 36-guns, before Martin was able to drive them off by dropping back with his centre.

Map showing the positions of the two battles fought in the Ligurian Sea between Admirals Martin and Hotham in 1795
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Hy%C3%A8res_Islands#/media/File:Ligurian_Sea_map.png

Admiral Martin, determined to avoid his two rearmost ships falling into enemy hands, as the British van closed, had to wear round in succession to try and put his main body between them and the British pursuers, however confusion in the French fleet allowed Hotham to cut off the now badly damaged Censeur and Ca Ira and despite appeals to the British admiral by a frustrated Nelson, to pursue the French main body after securing the prizes, Martin was allowed to withdraw unmolested back to Toulon.

The Agamemnon engaging the Ca Ira, 13th March 1795 at the Battle of Genoa - Nicholas Pocock (National Maritime Museum)

Specific casualties among the French ships are not known with the British reporting a loss of 74 killed and 284 wounded and around 750 casualties aboard the captured Ca Ira and Censeur between them but it seems the Tonnant together with Duquesne, Victoire and Timoleon were all heavily engaged and badly damaged in the action.

Admiral Martin would try his luck again in the Ligurian Sea in July and was spotted by the British 'Flying' squadron commanded by Commodore Nelson which brought on another fleet chase as the the French withdrew with Hotham's British fleet in hot pursuit.

This time the French again managed to escape, losing their slowest ship, Alcide 74-guns which with a fire onboard caused her magazine to explode late in the afternoon taking 300 of her crew with her, but also seeing Hotham criticised with lacking energy and diligence for not attacking more vigorously.

As far as Tonnant was concerned, she was not engaged throughout the action and suffered no losses or damage.

The next and last time under French colours the Tonnant would be in action would be at the Battle of the Nile on the 1st August 1798 when Rear Admiral Nelson entered Aboukir Bay with his squadron late in the afternoon to attack the French squadron of Vice Admiral Francois-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers anchored in line on the orders of General Bonaparte in support of his invading French army of Egypt.

Battle of the Nile 1-2 August 1798 showing Tonnant anchored behind and in support of the flagship L'Orient.
Courtesy of 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Battle_of_the_Nile_1798-en.png

Anchored directly behind the French flagship L'Orient 120-guns, the Tonnant was the penultimate French ship to be attacked as Nelson sought to overcome the van and centre of Bruey's line that saw the French flagship come under heavy attack from HMS Bellerophon, Swiftsure and Alexander, which saw her fires take hold and her magazine explode at about 22.00.

All the ships close by could see the impending doom of the L'Orient and took whatever avoiding action they could to protect themselves from the likely explosion and this saw the Tonnant along with the Heureux and  Mercure cut their cables in rapid succession, with the latter two drifting aground whilst continuing to fire, but the Tonnant managing to drop anchor near to the next French ship still in line, the Guillaume Tell, flagship of Rear Admiral Pierre Villeneuve.

Tonnant's commander at the Battle of the Nile, Captain Aristide Aubert du Petit Thouars

The fighting in the final phase of the battle focussed on the Tonnant and the rear most French ships and the accounts are confused and incomplete, but following the lull that ensued after the destruction of the L'Orient, many ships of both sides took the opportunity to make repairs and extinguish fires of their own.

The fighting reached a crescendo at about 0600 on the morning of 2nd August as HMS Zealous, Goliath, Theseus, Alexander each of 74-guns and Leander 50-guns, closed in on the French rear, that would see the French commander, Rear Admiral Villeneuve, cut and run aboard the Guillaume Tell in company with Genereux each of 74-guns and the frigates Diane 48-guns and Justice 44-guns.

The 80-gun Tonnant battered but unbowed with her mortally wounded captain propped up in a barrel stoically issuing commands on his quarterdeck despite having lost both arms and a leg to separate round shot, and having his colours nailed to pole following all the masts being shot away

The Tonnant was by that stage aground and dismasted, having drifted onto the nearby shoals, but still fighting bravely, having badly damaged HMS Majestic, causing nearly 200 casualties including her commander Captain George Westcott, the only British captain killed in the battle.

When the Theseus and Leander approached her at about 0600 she finally capitulated having suffered, 120 men killed and 150 wounded, nearly half her compliment and included her captain who is reported to have finally shot himself in the head with his pistol.

Most nations of the period retained the names of captured ships, especially if they had fought particularly well in the action in which they were captured thus it was that HMS Tonnant was taken into the service of the Royal Navy on the 9th December 1798 eventually being sent home to Plymouth on the 17th July 1799 and with a short commission in the Channel and Gibraltar was back in Portsmouth laid up in ordinary by 1800.

With the start of the Napoleonic War in 1803, Tonnant was fitted out and recommissioned in March 1803 under the command of Captain Sir Edward Pellew and attached to the Channel Squadron blockading the Spanish port of El Ferrol and it was in these duties that she participated in the recapture of  the Indiaman Lord Nelson on the 27th August, as the French prize crew attempted to take her into the Spanish port.

Captain Sir Edward Pellew, seen here in 1804, was HMS Tonnant's first commander in the Napoleonic War and in which he flew his commodore's pennant.

The following month as part of Sir Robert Calder's squadron she took part in the chase of the French 74-gun Duguay-Trouin and the 36-gun frigate Gurriere as they managed to evade Tonnant and the British blockade and get into Corunna.

In May 1804 Pellew handed command over to Captain William Henry Jervis, whose time with HMS Tonnant was limited as he drowned off Brest when his gig overturned on its way across to the flagship, San Josef on the 26th January 1805, thus seeing the appointment of Captain Charles Tyler.

Captain Charles Tyler. the son of an army officer, took command of Tonnant
after his predecessor drowned off Brest in January 1805 and would be in command at the Battle of Trafalgar in October that year.

Captain Tyler had served alongside Nelson as captain of the frigate Meleager 32-guns in 1794 and was at Calvi in Corsica when Nelson lost his eye, and was at Copenhagen in 1801 commanding HMS Warrior 74-guns in 1801.

Thus it was that he would command HMS Tonnant under the great admiral when as part of Vice Admiral Collingwood's squadron of observation he arrived off Cadiz in June 1805 to keep watch and observe the arrival of Villeneuve's French squadron returned from the West Indies and his recent clash with Admiral Calder's squadron off of Ferrol.

On the 21st October, the Tonnant would be the fourth ship in Admiral Collingwood's Lee Column as it bore down on the Combined Fleet at Trafalgar with her band on deck playing 'Britons Strike Home' and cutting the line between the Spanish Monarca 74-guns and the French Algeciras 74-guns, flagship of Rear Admiral Magon, whilst also raking the French Pluton 74-guns.

Lieutenant Frederick Hoffman of the Tonnant described the breakthrough and the proximity of the enemy ships on each side as;

Lieutenant, later Captain Frederick Hoffman,
left his account of the fighting while aboard HMS Tonnant at Trafalgar.
See the link below for 'A Sailor of King George'.

'so close that a biscuit could have been thrown on either of them. Our guns were double shotted. The order was given to fire; being so close, every shot was poured into their hulls, and down came the Frenchman's (Algeciras') mizzen mast, and after our second broadside, the Spaniard's (Monarca's) fore and crossjack yards.'

HMS Tonnant engaging the Spanish 74-gun Monarca at Trafalgar - Nicholas Pocock

A third broadside was enough for the Monarca and she hauled down her colours, drifting away as she did so, being the first ship in the Combined Fleet to surrender, within ten to fifteen minutes and a sign of the accuracy of Tonnant's gunnery.

Contre Amiral Charles Rene Magon, killed at Trafalgar - Olivier Pichat (Palace of Versailles)

The Tonnant sailed on and Tyler spotted HMS Mars being pounded by the French Pluton and so turning to starboard raked the French 74 through her starboard quarter, but an alert Admiral Magon brought the Algeciras around to return the compliment to the Tonnant.

Turning to meet the new threat the bowsprit of the Algeciras thrust through the shrouds of the Tonnant amidships. Hoffman described the combat;

'A French ship of 80 guns, with an Admiral's flag, came up and poured a raking broadside into our stern, which killed or wounded forty petty officers and men, nearly cut the rudder in two, and shattered the whole of the stern, with the quarter galleries.

She then in the most gallant manner locked her bowsprit in our starboard main shrouds and attempted to board us with the greater part of her officers and ship's company. She had riflemen in the tops who did great execution. Our poop was soon cleared, and our gallant Captain shot through the left thigh, and obliged to be carried below.

During this time we were not idle. We gave it to her most gloriously with the starboard and main-deckers and turned the forecastle guns, loaded with grape, on the gentlemen who wished to give us so fraternal a hug.

The marines kept up a warm destructive fire on the boarders. Only one man made good his footing on the quarterdeck, when he was pinned through the calf of his right leg by one of the crew with his half-pike, whilst another was going to cut him down, which I prevented, and desired to be taken to the cockpit.

Our severe contest with the French Admiral lasted more than half an hour, our sides grinding so much against each other that we were obliged to fire the lower-deck guns without running them out.'

The battered Monarca 74-guns strikes her colours to Tonnant at Trafalgar - Nicholas Pocock

Both ships caught fire in the close exchange and were eventually extinguished as the fight continued as recounted by Lieutenant Hoffman;

'At length we had the satisfaction of seeing her three lower masts go by the board, ripping the partners up in their fall, as they had been shot through below the deck, and carrying with them all their sharp-shooters to look sharper in the next world, for as all our boats were shot through we could not save one of them in this. 

The death of Admiral Magon

The crew were then ordered with the second lieutenant to board her. They cheered and in a short time carried her. They found the gallant French Admiral Magon killed at the foot of the poop ladder, the captain dangerously wounded. Out of eight lieutenants five were killed, with three hundred petty officers and seamen, and about one hundred wounded. 

We left the second lieutenant and sixty men in charge of her, and took some of the prisoners on board when she swung clear of us. We had pummelled her so handsomely that fourteen of her lower deck guns were dismounted, and her larboard bow exhibited a mass of splinters.'

Boarding actions were not as common as Hollywood would have you believe, with the simple problem of bridging the gap between the tumblehome of two ships close together, often preventing such an attack unless bridged by a main yard lowered of often dropped with a swift slash of a cutlass or as in the case of HMS Tonnant having the main shrouds pierced by the enemy's bowsprit, forming a perfect bridge. - Scene from Master and Commander, The Far Side of the World.

Following her battle with the Algaciras, Tonnant became engaged in exchanging broadsides with the Spanish San Juan Nepomuceno 74-guns, but the honour of finishing off the Spaniard went to the late arriving Dreadnought 98-guns who concluded the action within ten minutes.

HMS Tonnant would finish her battle badly damaged, with all three topmasts and the mainyard shot away and with her hull and rudder battered together with her stern gallery and rails demolished; this together with the loss of seventy-six casualties, with twenty-six killed and her captain among the wounded.

My interpretation of the San Juan Nepomuceno from my post about her back in July.
https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2020/07/all-at-sea-on-stocks-in-jjs-dockyard_21.html

After the battle Tonnant was towed to Gibraltar by HMS Spartiate 74-guns for repairs, before returning to Portsmouth in January 1806 to begin a much needed six month refit at a cost of £17,890 equivalent to about £1,618,000 today, illustrating the damage the ship must have received.

Admiral Sir Alexander Inglis Cochrane commanded the forces engaged in the Chesapeake campaign in 1814 from HMS Tonnant

From 1806 to 1812 HMS Tonnant served with the Channel Squadron, performing her blockade duties before the declaration of war by the Americans would see her go back to Portsmouth for another refit before joining the North American Squadron operating out of Halifax, Nova Scotia in the first quarter of 1814, later to become the flagship of Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Inglis Cochrane for most of her time in the Chesapeake Bay from which he conducted the campaign against Washington and Baltimore.

Whilst aboard HMS Tonnant, American Colonels John Stuart Skinner and Francis Scott Key dined with Admiral Cochrane and Major General Robert Ross as they negotiated the release of Doctor William Beanes whose observation of the bombardment of Fort McHenry before Baltimore inspired the poem 'Defence of Fort M'Henry' later to become the American National Anthem, 'The Star Spangled Banner'. The ship would also carry the body of General Ross back to Halifax in a barrel of Jamaica Rum for burial after his death at the Battle of North Point.

The Battle of Lake Borgne, Louisiana, 14th December 1814, a delaying action that saw the capture of all five US Navy gunboats by forty two Royal Navy ships boats armed with carronades in the bows and carrying 980 seamen and marines, but that ultimately helped in the defence of New Orleans and Major General Andrew Jackson's victory at the battle on 8th January 1815

Tonnant would also serve later as Cochrane's flagship in the New Orleans Campaign of 1815 where the ships boats participated in the successful capture of five US Navy gunboats only to have the delay caused by the action aid General Jackson's eventual victory and repulse of the British troops before the city.

HMS Tonnant's war concluded with the exile of Napoleon Bonaparte to St Helena in 1815, being finally paid off in to the ordinary in November 1818 and broken up at Plymouth in March 1821.

At the Battle of Trafalgar HMS Tonnant was armed with 32 x 32 pounder long guns on her lower deck, 32 x 18-pdrs on her upper deck, 2 x 18-pdrs and 14 x 32-pdr carronades on her quarterdeck and 4 x 32-pdr carronades on her forecastle giving her 84 pieces. 

At the battle she was very much under her compliment with 600 naval personnel and 88 Royal Marines.

As you can see the metal fittings of figurehead and stern galleries are very distinctive on this model but again the references for them seem doubtful but do make for a very impactful model to grace the table with.

Sources refereed to in this post:

The Trafalgar Companion - Mark Adkin

Nile 1798, Nelson's First Great Victory - Gregory Fremont-Barnes (Osprey Campaign)

A Sailor of King George - Captain Frederick Hoffman RN. Guttenberg Library Link

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27520/27520-h/27520-h.html

Other Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Tonnant

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Genoa_(1795)

https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=1993

Next up: A book review covering a very famous action from the War of 1812, Mr Steve and I have been on our travels and Mr Madison's War goes into a third game, as well as the Third Rate of Renown looking at the Marine Nationale's Argonaute.

Mr Madison's War, The Incredible War of 1812 - Vassal

In my last post looking at the range of board game modules Steve and I have been playing on Vassal, I mentioned the latest game to be selected and one I had been looking forward to trying out face to face, but with the current situation made it a prime candidate for our regular Tuesday night Vassal meet up and so we played it once which proved to be a learning type of game and were interested enough in it to immediately schedule another go, with me taking the Americans.

I was first attracted to this game after watching some of the introductory video replays hosted by the designer, Gilbert Collins and was immediately drawn to the fact that it was card driven, which to my way of thinking usually ensures great replay value with no two card hands ever being the same and the rather unusual idea of a pre-war card play phase, where neither player is sure when exactly hostilities will commence, together with the inclusion for the possibility of the Battle of New Orleans to take place after the peace treaty at Ghent had been concluded and thus giving the US player an additional two victory points to be added to the US total.

The artwork in this game really adds to the simulation

In addition the production standards of this GMT produced game were to my mind simply stunning with a glorious map of the cockpit of the war, namely the Great Lakes frontier on the US-Canadian border, and counters and cards capturing the historical drama of the conflict with cards recreating for example, the stunning series of frigate and single ship combat victories achieved in the first year of war, to the individual unit counters with lovely illustrations of ships and land units that would have fought along the frontier.

Campaign situation at the end of Spring 1813

So with our learning curve initiated and principle rule concepts grasped, revealing key options for both players in their conduct of the war we set up the board for another game with Steve taking the British and their Canadian allies and seeing both of us cagily play our first seven cards of the pre-war phase, using a few to move some troops around or up to the border whilst holding back several for the post declaration of war card that duly arrived as each of us took turns to draw those first seven cards.

Once war is declared, both players then draw the balance of any remaining cards up to their seven including cards held back and normal play starts.

The first year of the war is tricky for both players in that the war starts before the Americans are fully mobilised and thus they are forced to manage the forces on hand in readiness for the really big formations that show up in early 1813 when the American offensive can really get going. However the platform for that offensive needs to be secured against a British player very able to upset those arrangement by careful surgical attacks along the front that can force the Americans to have to react rather than drive events to their own plans.

The string of US naval victories at the start of the war are a vital source of
victory points, but also are high value action point cards as well, this one worth 2AP
to the US player

Of course the cards the players hold is the key to what opportunities present and as the American player I was fortunate to get most of the US naval victory cards that give either two or three action points or when played for the event two victory points in recognition of the shock to the British at seeing their vaunted Royal Navy shown a thing a two at sea.

In the main I mainly played for the VP as the Americans only get those opportunities for easy VP in the first year of the war and with Steve launching a very successful spoiling offensive out of Quebec capturing multiple US towns along the St Lawrence border before Montreal and taking control of Lakes Ontario and Champlain, I was fortunate to keep the British victory point lead to just ten points as we headed into 1813 and the arrival of General Harrison in the west, soon to be followed by General Scott with a march to the Niagara front on his play list.

Major General William Harrison and his Kentucky militia
would lead my offensive in 1813

My game plan was to try and stick to my campaign for 1813 as much as possible and not let the British deflect my offensive plans which were very much determined towards taking control of Lake Erie and unhinging the Niagara frontier, this helped by Commander Perry getting control of both Erie and Lake Huron early in the war and staying ahead of British ship building to maintain that grip which was planned to facilitate General Harrison capturing the key British position at Fort Malden or Amhurstburg as I traditionally think of it and thus neutralising the British army in Upper Canada under General Proctor and the Indian Chief Tecumseh.

Fort Malden was captured by Harrison in the spring of 1813 along with its garrison that was driven within its stockade and opened up the whole of the Thames Valley on the north shore of Erie allowing the American offensive to drive forward towards the key town of Burlington and the threat to York and the Niagara front.

The American offensive around Lake Erie closes in on the Niagara frontier at the end of spring 1814 with Perry controlling Erie, and Harrison and Scott commanding large numbers of US regulars on either side of the frontier 

The offensive forced Steve to halt any further drives along Lake Champlain or to exploit Brock’s success in taking Buffalo as action points were needed to bring forward urgent reinforcements under Major General De Rottenburg to prevent Harrison advancing still further.

The Americans kept the pressure on Brock with the arrival of US regulars under Scott who retook Buffalo as Brock captured Fort Niagara, but with his forces surrounded by large numbers of US troops found himself bottled up and unable to exploit, but able to rely on supply from Yeo and his British fleet controlling Ontario.

Campaign situation at the end of Spring 1814

Thus it was that our game was gloriously balanced on a knife edge of possibilities as 1814 hove into view and large numbers of British Peninsular War veterans appearing in Quebec, not to mention those set to arrive in Washington determined to have a barbecue with all the inherent risks that starting open fires in built up areas can cause!

However if the card gods were American I was determined to try and forestall British plans for resuming the offensive down Lake Champlain and on to Albany with a scheme to defend forward with Dearborn and Wilkinson, seeking to get my naval forces built to allow Commodore Macdonough to get control of the lake, thus forcing the British to spend action points fighting their way south but with the threat of US landings in their rear should the opportunity present.

The card gods were kind and although I lost Washington to those limey arsonists under Major General Robert Ross, I was able to take a modicum of revenge by finding a use for the 'Incendiary Action' card which is rather two edged in that it can reward the player using it with 2VP but at the cost of the towns VP burned down, to reflect what bad form this kind of activity was thought of.

However looking around I settled on Beverdams, on the Canadian side of the Niagara frontier, to vent my fury upon and with a value of 0 netted myself another 2VP to compensate for the 3VP lost with the burning down of the White House.

The campaign of 1814 focussed on the US forces looking to frustrate a large British invasion along Lake Champlain to snap up victory points before the end of peace talks in Ghent. Commodore Macdonough managed to secure the lake which allowed Generals Dearborn and Wilkinson to hold back the British before peace was declared.

I also ended up holding the Ghent Peace Treaty card so the end of the war was in US hands, all be it Steve held the Battle of New Orleans, so no bonus victory points in this game, but with a successful winning of the naval arms race to build ships on Lake Champlain, Macdonough was able to get control of the lake and I was able to play all my cards before declaring peace.

This is a clever mechanic in that whoever holds the peace treaty card can play it at any time during the hand and end the war, but hands a number of victory points to his opponent according to the number of unplayed cards he holds when he ended the war, thus when we totted up the final score, Steve held a four point advantage, well within the historical result that saw me as the US player now looking at a bankrupt economy thanks to the Royal Navy, but at least keeping the borders I had at the start and the British repeal of their Orders in Council, so no more grabbing of US sailors to serve in the Royal Navy.

Wars end 1814 and Steve's 'Washington Burned' card sits alongside the US response of 'Incendiary Action' against Beverdams, lower right.

Mr Madison's War is a very clever game and a challenge for both sides to beat the historical outcome, but with the vagaries of card play ensuring that no two games will ever be the same and if the cards come right offering either side the opportunity to win bigger than the actual outcome, that and a bit of skill choosing where and where not to fight.

This game is set to join my select group of all time favourites that I will be happy to sit down and play at most any time and both Steve and I experienced the tension of trying to work out the best way of playing the hands held to maximise our points score throughout the play.

Mr Collins and GMT are to be congratulated on producing a very fine game that captures the history of the war in so much of its presentation and the Vassal platform manages it very well, so much so that we are at the time of writing well into our third game with Steve taking the US this time and well in command as we approach the critical end game of 1814.

Next up, the final British third rate of renown, HMS Tonnant, gets showcased, and another book review.

All at Sea - British Third Rates of Renown (HMS Revenge)

Destruction of the French fleet in Basque Roads April 1809 - Thomas Whitcombe
HMS Revenge was one of the eleven ships of the line in Lord Gambier's blockading squadron at the underwhelming victory of Basque Roads. 

HMS Revenge was designed by Sir John Henslow and built and launched at the Chatham Dockyard in Kent on the 13th April 1805, for the princely sum of £58,653, about £4,840,000 in modern money and reputedly being one of the first ships to been turned out in the Nelsonian, chequerboard effect, preference for the yellow ochre strakes and black gun ports, paint scheme.

HMS Revenge, sports her metal cast deck, with two forward mounted bow chaser guns, that help suggest the power of this large 74-gun ship.

With an original order for an 80-gun ship, the Revenge was designed as a large class 74-gun ship of the line, later reclassed as a 76-gun ship in 1817, with her upper deck armament consisting of 24-pounder guns instead of the 18-pounders carried by the smaller types, which, together with her reputation as a fast sailer, made her a very powerful addition to the British fleet that braced itself for the dramatic campaign that year to frustrate Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's plans for invasion of the British Isles.

HMS Revenge pictured at Gosport - National Maritime Museum.
Purportedly showing the 1805 ship, however the rather ugly pointed clipper shaped bow in this drawing suggests the later ship of the 1850's.

HMS Revenge didn't have to wait long before her first taste of action, and with her paintwork barely dry, she took her place as the eighth ship in Vice Admiral Collingwood's Lee Column as part of Vice Admiral Nelson's fleet at Trafalgar, under her commander Captain Robert Moorsom.

Captain, later Admiral Robert Moorsom, commanded HMS Revenge at Trafalgar
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/151969155/robert-moorsom

At 09.00, on the 21st of October 1805, the two British columns of ships were about six miles from the Combined Fleet, with studding sails set and the men sent to their breakfast before the drum roll announced 'clear for action' as noted by a seaman aboard HMS Revenge;

'During this time each ship was making the usual preparations, such as breaking the captain's and officers' cabins, and sending all lumber below. The doctors, parson, purser and loblolly men were also busy, getting the medicine chest and bandages out, and sails prepared for the wounded to be placed on, that they might be dressed in rotation as they were taken down to the  . . . cockpit. 

In such a bustling . . . trying, as well as serious time, it was curious to note the different dispositions of the British sailor. Some would be offering a guinea for a glass of grog, whilst others were making a sort of verbal will, such as: "If one of Johnnie Crapeau's shots knocks my head off, you will take all my effects; and if you are killed and I am not, why I will have all yours"; and this was generally agreed on.'

The Battle of Trafalgar, 21st October 1805 - HMS Revenge incorrectly illustrated here, was in fact the eighth ship in Collingwood's column, behind HMS Achille (not Achilles), and Polyphemus actually behind Swiftsure.

 

The Revenge broke the enemy line at about 12.50 and was the last of Collingwood's lead group of eight ships with a gap of about thirty minutes before the next British ship, Defiance, would arrive at the head of the second group.

Captain Moorsom had ordered that the Revenge would hold its fire on the approach, and only open fire at close range, stating;

'We shall want all our shot when we get in close, never mind their firing. When I fire a carronade from the quarterdeck, that will be the signal for you to begin ...'

The Revenge cut in ahead of the French Achille 74-guns and then turned to luff up on the stern of the Spanish San Ildefonso 74-guns, thus able to deliver close raking broadsides to both enemy ships in short succession, but the clever manoeuvre of turning between the two ships, exposed the stern gallery of Revenge to a raking broadside from Admiral Gravina's flagship, the three-deck first rate Principe de Asturias 112-guns.

The Revenge found herself at the centre of a trio of enemy ships and was only able to hold her own thanks to the emphasis given by Captain Moorsom to the gunnery training of his crew with Moorsom recalling the situation in a letter to his father after the battle;

'They closed so well together that a Frenchman's jib boom took my mizzen topsail, as I passed and he was near jamming me between himself and his second ahead. Perhaps it would have been better for me if he had done so; for a Spanish three-deck ship with Admiral Gravina's flag directly shot up my lee quarter, the Frenchman wore under my stern, and I was obliged to endure a raking fire for a considerable time without being able to help myself, for all our ropes were cut to pieces, and the wind was so light ...'

 

H.M.S. Revenge in the action off Cape Trafalgar - Lieutenant Lewis Hole (c.1805), first lieutenant of the Revenge.
She is seen here with the Spanish flagship Principe de Astuarias 112-guns raking her stern quarter as she fights desperately amid a group of enemy ships.

The battering from three different directions the Revenge received was described by Lieutenant Peter Pickernell;

'The shot entered the 3rd lower deck port from forward on the starboard side and struck the gun in which it made a large dint, then altering its direction, it struck the foremast in a vertical position and scooped out a large portion of the mast, which again altering its direction, it took a horizontal position and after decapitating a young midshipman by the name of Green, it struck the seven men at the foremost tackle of the first gun forward on the starboard side who were running out after loading, and killed the whole of them by severing them neatly in two. It then stuck to the ships side in a horizontal position, just above the waterway nearly under the breach of the gun, until the ship was in dock, when I cut it out by the Captain's desire.'

Revenge's battle for survival went on for about an hour with her receiving fire from a fourth enemy ship the French Aigle 74-guns, but in return receiving support from other arriving British ships, the first being HMS Defiance 74-guns. 

A seaman aboard the Revenge later wrote;

'After being engaged for about an hour two other ships fortunately came up and received some of the fire intended for us. We were now enabled to get at some of the shot-holes between wind and water and plug them.....

We were unable to work the ship, our yards, sails and masts being disabled, and the braces completely shot away. In this condition we lay by the side of the enemy, firing away, and now and then we received a good raking from them, passing under our stern...

Often during the battle we could not see for the smoke whether we were firing at friend or foe, and as to hearing orders, the noise of the guns so completely made us deaf we were obliged to look only to the motions that were made. In this manner we continued the battle until nearly five o'clock, when it ceased.'

Hull plan for HMS Revenge - National Maritime Museum

The close of the battle found HMS Revenge in a battered state as the surviving crew 'spliced the main brace' with the navy's traditional gill of rum issued to each man, having not eaten or drank since breakfast.

However despite taking nine shots through her hull leaving three guns dismounted, several lower deck ports destroyed and her stern, transom timbers, beams, knees, riders and iron standards much damaged, plus topside damage to her bowsprit, all three lower masts, main top mast and gaff, the crew of the Revenge came off surprisingly lightly, with 28 men killed and 51 wounded.

Among her casualties are recorded, killed, Midshipman T. Grier rather than Green as referred to in Lieutenant Pickernell's account along with Midshipman E.F. Brooks and among the wounded were Captain Moorsom, Lieutenant J. Berry, Master L. Brockenshaw and Captain P. Lely, Royal Marines.

A final footnote to HMS Revenge's battle was the rescuing of French crew from the Achille 74-guns which following an exchange of fire with HMS Prince 98-guns left the French ship without masts and on fire which later reached the magazine causing the ship to explode at 17.45, according to Midshipman Robinson of the frigate Euryalus.

The boats managed to rescue 140 members of Captain Denieport's stricken ship which included a fat black pig which ended up as a supper of pork chops aboard Euryalus and, depending on which account you credit, a young woman named Jeanette, naked or clad in just trousers and an old jacket.

A rather fanciful if at least modest depiction of the rescue of Jeanette a French woman who had stowed away aboard the  Achille to be with her husband and subsequently rescued by the boats from HMS Revenge 

Either way the crew of the Revenge behaved with the typical chivalry associated with the Royal Navy as recorded by one of her lieutenants on the discovery of the gender of one of their prisoners;

'A boat load of prisoners-of-war came alongside, all of whom, with one exception were in the costume of Adam. The exception was apparently a youth ... clothed in an old jacket and trousers ... a face begrimed with smoke and dirt, without shoes, stockings or shirt and looking the picture of misery and despair.

The appearance of this person immediately attracted my attention, and on asking some questions, I was answered that the prisoner was a woman ... I lost no time in introducing her to my messmates as a female requiring their compassionate attention. The poor creature was almost famishing with hunger, having tasted nothing for four and twenty hours, consequently she required no persuasion to partake of our table. I then gave her ... my cabin and made a collection of ... articles to enable her to complete a more suitable wardrobe.

I'm not really sure of the authenticity, but I really liked the Medusa's Head, figurehead which seemed a very appropriate and warlike apparition to have at the bow of such a formidably named ship.

One of the lieutenants gave her a piece of sprigged muslin which he had obtained from a Spanish prize, and two checked shirts were supplied by the Purser; these with a purser's blanket, and my ditty bag, which contained needles, thread etc., being placed at her disposal she, in a short time, appeared in a very different , and much more becoming costume.

Being a dressmaker she had made herself a sort of jacket, after the Flemish fashion, and the purser's shirts had been transformed into an outer-petticoat; she had a silk handkerchief tastily tied over her head, and another thrown over her shoulders, white stockings and a pair of the Chaplain's shoes were on her feet, and altogether our guest, which we unanimously voted her, appeared a very interesting young woman.'

It would appear that Jeanette's adventure ended happily as after being landed at Gibraltar five days later she discovered her husband had also been rescued from the Achille and the couple were reunited soon after.

Cutting out attacks became a speciality of the Royal Navy on blockade duties as demonstrated by the boats from Revenge cutting out the French brig Cesar in the mouth of the River Gironde.
Not the Caesar shown here but a similar cutting out attack to repossess HMS Hermione off  Puerto Cabello by the boats from HMS Surprise - Nicholas Pocock

Following repairs in Gibraltar and a proper refit in Portsmouth, Revenge re-joined the Channel Fleet to resume her blockade duties along the French coast, and developing a skill for cutting out enemy ships, such as the French brig Cesar taken in the mouth of the River Gironde on the 15th July 1806 in company with a squadron of six ships under the command of Commodore Sir Samuel Hood.

In 1809 the Revenge was busy escorting troops for the disastrous Walcheren expedition and in April of that year was with Lord Gambier's squadron in the Basque Roads action that saw four French ships of the line and one frigate destroyed.

From then until the end of the war Revenge continued to serve in the Channel, later transferring to the Mediterranean fleet in December 1812 and being paid off in August 1814.

At the Battle of Trafalgar HMS Revenge was armed with 30 x 32-pounder long guns on her lower deck, 30 x 24-pdr guns on her upper deck, 12 x 9-pdr guns on her quarterdeck, 2x 9pdrs and 2 x 32-pdr carronades on her forecastle and 6 x 18-pdr carronades on her poop.

This particular model is supplied with a metal deck as well as the stylised stern gallery and figurehead and I have to say all are well modelled and the deck fits fairly snug, but both it and the stern gallery may need a little filler in places to avoid any unsightly gaps.

Sources referred to in this post:

The Trafalgar Companion - Mark Adkin

The Battle of Trafalgar - Geoffrey Bennett

The Naval History of Great Britain - William James 

https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=6180

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Revenge_(1805)

The next Third Rate of Renown to feature will be HMS Tonnant, and then its on to take a look at the French and Spanish ships but before that I have another book review, a Vassal game report and Mr Steve and I have have been on our travels again to Gloucestershire, beating the new lockdown restrictions to take in more battlefield walks and Iron Age hill forts.

The English Civil War, An Atlas and Concise History of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1639 -51 - Nick Lipscombe

 

There  are certain books in my rather large collection that I would never be without and consider a fundamental tome when looking to read up on any given period, subject or fact that will give me the detail I'm after.

These kind of books are not the superficial, coffee table items that flatter to deceive with often copious and often colour pictures with occasional maps of subjects that have been repeated ad infinitum but bring very little new or of value to the subject.

When these 'fundamental tomes' come along, it is worth highlighting them for the value they represent and thus it was that I obtained my copy of the newly published English Civil War history and atlas from Osprey and written by Colonel Nick Lipscombe, an author I have reviewed previously here on JJ's with his excellent book 'Wellington's Eastern Front' covering the campaigns fought on the east coast of Spain from 1810-14 and have referred to often with my use of his previous massive work, 'The Peninsular War Atlas' which contributed hugely to my Talavera project and subsequently to my Peninsular War Tour that I wrote about last year.

I well remember pouring over Nick Lipscombe's map of the battlefield of Talavera and working out the specific contours I needed to capture on my table to reflect the nature of the key Allied and French ridges, not to mention the pimple that is the Pajar Vergara and can testify to the sheer enjoyment of having such a perfect reference work to help me in a labour of love that had been long in the planning.

Normally I will read a book from cover to cover and gestate on the contents before delivering my thoughts to you here on the blog, and if they make it to the blog you can feel assured that I have enjoyed the read and can recommend it to anyone else with a similar interest to myself.

The fact that I can say that I have not read this book from cover to cover since it arrived on Wednesday this week, but felt compelled to post this rather concise review should say something, as far as my pleasure at now having this book within my collection of English Civil War references.

The Map Legend - Superb attention to detail

So come on then JJ, what's so good about this book and why would I want to get a copy?

Well as a historical wargamer I am always looking for good maps of battle sites and clear overviews of the campaigns that led to them.

Osprey, the publishers of the book, excel at this type of work in their own series of campaign books and that expertise shows here with the glorious attention to detail that I was expecting, having had the Peninsular War atlas to refer to.

As you will see above, the collection of 156 maps in colour is prefaced by a key to the battle and campaign maps including contours in feet, perfect for those of us interested in creating suitable table-top terrain and for identifying key features when out walking these battle sites. So this is definitely a book that you will not find me complaining about how many of, or what quality are, the maps, quite simply these are excellent.

The Battle of Braddock Down, January 1643 one of the many small actions covered in Nick Lipscombe's atlas

The other key aspect of this book that had me turning to other reference works such as 'The Civil War in the South West' by John Barratt, my usual walking reference book, was my concern that we might have a rather superficial coverage of the campaigns and actions, some of which can be quite small affairs with a few hundred to a few thousand men involved.

Well to illustrate my pleasure, I have included pictures of two of the map plates, illustrating the Battle of Braddock Down fought here in the West Country just down the road from me near Saltash and Liskeard on the Devon-Cornish border in January 1643, only four months after Edgehill.

The battle between Royalist general Sir Ralph Hopton and Parliamentarian commander Colonel William Ruthven only saw 5,000 and 4,000 men on each side respectively take the field and the map above gives a readily interpretable impression of the two armies with pike and musket blocks illustrated together with supporting cavalry.

This is one south west battle site on my list to visit and having a detailed representation and map to accompany such a visit is just the sort of reference to kill for.

The Battle of Ripple Field. Mr Steve and I visited the site a few weeks ago and I will put up some pictures in a follow up post covering our walk, that will help illustrate the excellence of this map from Nick Lipscombe's new book

Likewise, Mr Steve and I recently visited the battle site at Ripple Field just north of Tewkesbury after also visiting the Wars of the Roses battle site, and a post covering our walk will be posted soon here on the blog.

The action between Waller and Prince Maurice was an even smaller affair than Braddock Down with about 2,000 men on each side fought in a field with a slight ridge at one end on which sat Waller's horse.

It was really pleasing to see how well a small action like this was represented in the accompanying maps of the fight and the marching that led up to it and careful examination of the map shows the position we visited situated as it is between a rectangle of narrow lanes and with the ridge shown in the coloured contour levels.

I wish we had had this map on the day, and I will show the pictures of this battle site later, together with a view down the Parliamentarian ridge after Steve and I edged our way around a nearby field to get the perfect view, plus pictures of the pretty hamlet of Ripple, with many buildings little changed from the outside since 1643.

As well as the battlefield maps, the book captures the key details and movements of the King's and Parliament's and their allies forces in a chronological history covering the origins of the conflict in 1639-40 right through to the Interregnum of 1649-60 and the Rule of the Major Generals 1655-57 with maps covering the actions for the whole of the British Isles and Ireland.

The history of the war is broken down into 44 chapters making it a relatively straight forward reference work to be able to research a specific time period or campaign with those glorious maps illustrating key strategic movements as seen in the illustration above.

This is a relatively short summary of this book and I have not read the contents from cover to cover and if my experience of owning the similar Peninsular War Atlas is anything to judge, I am very unlikely to, because this book for me is a dip into reference about aspects of a very large and wide ranging war that has battles and campaigns I am very interested in to others for which I have a passing interest and want to be aware of for completion in my overall knowledge.

The writing covering each section is detailed enough to capture the key facts, with a book on that specific time period or campaign something that I would read in conjunction, but with Lipscombe's maps complementing both accounts.

Speaking as an historical wargamer interested in playing games and recreating actions from the English Civil War, not to mention dreams of campaign aspirations and the enjoyment of walking these battle sites, this book is a well-spring of information that supports those interests and I know I will be referring to it again and again.

The book is hardbound with gorgeously stiff paper making up its pages that number 367 from cover to cover.

Written with the support of the Battlefields Trust this book is likely to be a cornerstone of reference for the foreseeable and if like me you have the slightest interest in the English Civil War, this is a must have inclusion for your reference library.

The English Civil War Atlas is published by Osprey and has a recommended retail price of £55.11, but I got my brand spanking new copy via Amazon Prime for just £32.99 including free delivery, which is an absolute steal for such a stunning book.

Recommended

JJ