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Bucentaure
''Bucentaure'' was an 86-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, and the lead ship of her class. She was the flagship of Vice-Admiral Latouche Tréville, who died on board on 18 August 1804. ''Bucentaure'' was named after the mighty Venetian ship ''Bucentaur'' which was destroyed by Napoleon I after the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797. Vice-Admiral Villeneuve hoisted his flag on 6 November 1804. ''Bucentaure'' hosted the Franco-Spanish war council while sheltered from the British fleet at Cadiz. The vote was to remain in safe waters (a decision later overruled by Admiral Villeneuve) During the council, Spanish general Escaño complained that the atmospheric pressure was descending (a sign of approaching storms). French vice-admiral Magon famously retorted "the thing descending here is braveness". This offended Admiral Gravina and other Spanish officers who did not oppose later the imprudent order of taking to sea. At the Battle of Trafalgar, on 21 October 1805, she ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815). As part of Napoleon's plans to invade England, the French and Spanish fleets combined to take control of the English Channel and provide the Grande Armée safe passage. The allied fleet, under the command of the French admiral, Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, sailed from the port of Cádiz in the south of Spain on 18 October 1805. They encountered the British fleet under Lord Nelson, recently assembled to meet this threat, in the Atlantic Ocean along the southwest coast of Spain, off Cape Trafalgar. Nelson was outnumbered, with 27 British ships of the line to 33 allied ships including the largest warship in either fleet, the Spanish ''Santísima Trinidad''. To address this imbalance, Nelson sailed his fleet directly at the allied ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bucentaure-class Ship Of The Line
The ''Bucentaure'' class was a class of 80-gun French ships of the line built to a design by Jacques-Noël Sané from 1802 onwards, of which at least 29 were ordered but only 21 ships were launched. They were a development from his earlier . Armament As built, the first two ships of this class carried the same 80-gun armament as their predecessors of the ''Tonnant'' class - thirty 36-''livre'' guns on the lower deck, thirty-two 24-''livre'' guns on the upper deck, and eighteen 12-''livre'' guns plus six 36-''livre'' obusiers (howitzers) on the spar deck above (the French ''livre'' was about 8% greater than the British pound weight, so that the 36-''livre'' round equated to 38lbs 13.6oz). Under the 1806 ''règlement'', the spar deck ordnance was altered to fourteen 12-''livre'' guns plus ten 36-''livre'' carronades. Subsequently, additional 36-''livre'' carronades were carried by most later ships of the class, raising them to 86-gun ships (with variations in actual numbers). Ship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Boniface Textoris
Jean Boniface Textoris was a military surgeon, chief doctor of the French Navy, born on 24 February 1773 in Toulon and died on 3 September 1828 in Néoules in the Var. Joining the Navy in 1787, at the age of 14, he rose through the ranks of Navy surgeon, operating during 16 years on most of the major ships of the Ancien Régime and of the French Revolutionary Wars. Received doctor at the Montpellier Faculty of Medicine in 1803, he was appointed Chief Medical Officer of the squadron shortly after the advent of the First Empire under the command of Admiral de Latouche-Tréville, then on his death, under the command of Admiral de Villeneuve on the '' Bucentaure''. In this capacity, he took part in the battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) where he was recognised for his devotion to wounded sailors. For a few years, he still embarked on hospital ships, but, in 1811, weakened by his health, he applied for a position as an instructor and was appointed to the Army training ship, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis-René Levassor De Latouche Tréville
Louis-René Madelaine Le Vassor, comte de La Touche-TrévilleLevot, p.295 (3 June 1745 – 19 August 1804)Levot, p. 296 was a French vice-admiral. He fought in the American War of Independence and became a prominent figure of the French Revolutionary Wars and of the Napoleonic wars. Born into a noble family of naval officers, Latouche enlisted at the age of 13. He rose to become a competent frigate captain, battling several British ships during the American War of Independence. His two-frigate squadron once manoeuvred a 74-gun ship of the line to the point of sinking, and he was entrusted with important personalities of the time as passengers, notably Louis XVI and the Marquis de Lafayette. During the Revolution, Latouche, a Freemason and aide to Phillipe Égalité, took progressive positions as a deputy in the Estates General and later in the National Constituent Assembly. His noble status nevertheless made him a target during the Reign of Terror, and he was imprisoned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Jacques Magendie
Jean-Jacques Magendie (21 May 1766 in Bordeaux – 26 March 1835 in Paris) was a French Navy officer. He famously captained the flagship ''Bucentaure'' at the Battle of Trafalgar. Biography Early career Magendie joined the French Royal Navy in 1781 as an apprentice, and later sailed on merchant ships, raising to second captain and distinguishing himself to the point where he was mentioned in a June 1793 meeting of the National Convention. He was brought into Navy service with the rank of ensign and given command of a cutter patrolling off the coasts of England and Ireland.''Dictionnaire des capitaines de vaisseau de Napoléon'', Danielle & Bernard Quintin, SPM, 2003, In 1794, he captained the cutter ''Ranger'', and the corvette ''Espion''Quintin (p. 251) gives the name ''Espoir'' instead of ''Espion'', apparently in error as they state she was captured by in March 1795. A ''Hasard''-class brig ''Espoir'' was in commission at the time, but she was not captured on 2–3 Mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raking Fire
In naval warfare during the Age of Sail, raking fire was cannon fire directed parallel to the long axis of an enemy ship from ahead (in front of the ship) or astern (behind the ship). Although each shot was directed against a smaller profile compared to firing at the target ship's broadside and thus more likely to miss the target ship to one side or the other, an individual cannon shot that hit would pass through more of the ship, thereby increasing damage to the hull, sails, cannon and crew. In addition, the targeted ship would have fewer (if any) guns able to return fire. Historically, a stern rake tended to be more damaging than a bow rake because the shots were less likely to be deflected by the curved and strengthened bow, and because disabling the exposed rudder at the stern would render the target unable to steer and thus manoeuvre. However, achieving a position to rake a single enemy ship was usually very difficult unless the opponent was unable to manoeuvre due to d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre-Charles Villeneuve
Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve (31 December 1763 – 22 April 1806) was a French naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars. He was in command of the French and the Spanish fleets that were defeated by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar. Early career Villeneuve was born in 1763 at Valensole, and joined the French Navy in 1779. He took part in naval operations in the American Revolutionary War, serving as an ensign on ''Marseillais'', in de Grasse's fleet. Despite his aristocratic ancestry, he sympathised with the French Revolution, dropping the nobiliary particle from his name, and was able to continue his service in the Navy when other aristocratic officers were purged. He served during several battles, and was promoted to rear admiral in 1796 as a result of this. At the Battle of the Nile in 1798 he was in command of the rear division. His ship, , was one of only two French ships of the line to escape the defeat. He was captured soon afterwards whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest naval commanders in history. Nelson was born into a moderately prosperous Norfolk family and joined the navy through the influence of his uncle, Maurice Suckling, a high-ranking naval officer. Nelson rose rapidly through the ranks and served with leading naval commanders of the period before obtaining his own command at the age of 20, in 1778. He developed a reputation for personal valour and firm grasp of tactics, but suffered periods of illness and unemployment after the end of the American War of Independence. The outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars allowed Nelson to return to service, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Israel Pellew
Admiral Sir Israel Pellew, KCB, RN (25 August 1758 – 19 July 1832), was an English naval officer who spent his career under the shadow of his more successful older brother Edward Pellew. Early naval service Pellew first went to sea aboard the sloop in 1771, serving in the West Indies. He went to the North American station on the frigate HMS ''Flora'' in 1776. Pellew was promoted to lieutenant in the in April 1779 and then served on the frigates and ''Apollo''. He was placed in command of the cutter in the North Sea in 1782. In 1783 he captured the Dutch privateer ''Flushinger'' in a single-ship action. ''Resolution'' transferred to the Irish station, with Pellew remaining in command until 1787. In March 1789 he joined , and was promoted to commander in 1790, but was not employed again during the peace. On the outbreak of war in 1793 Pellew was temporarily without a ship, and served as a volunteer aboard his brother's command , being in charge of her aft guns when she c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bucentaur
The bucentaur ( ; ''bucintoro'' in Italian and Venetian) was the state barge of the doges of Venice. It was used every year on Ascension Day (''Festa della Sensa'') up to 1798 to take the doge out to the Adriatic Sea to perform the " Marriage of the Sea" – a ceremony that symbolically wedded Venice to the sea. Scholars believe there were four major barges, the first significant bucentaur having been built in 1311. The last and most magnificent of the historic bucentaurs made its maiden voyage in 1729 in the reign of Doge Alvise III Sebastiano Mocenigo. Depicted in paintings by Canaletto and Francesco Guardi, the ship was long and more than high. A two-deck floating palace, its main salon had a seating capacity of 90. The doge's throne was in the stern, and the prow bore a figurehead representing Justice with sword and scales. The barge was propelled by 168 oarsmen, and another 40 sailors were required to man it. The ship was destroyed in 1798 on Napoleon's orders to sy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
12-pounder Long Gun
The 12-pounder long gun was an intermediary calibre piece of artillery mounted on warships of the Age of sail. They were used as main guns on the most typical frigates of the early 18th century, on the second deck of fourth-rate ships of the line, and on the upper decks or castles of 80-gun and 120-gun ships of the line. Naval 12-pounders were similar to 12-pound Army guns in the Gribeauval system: the canon lourd de 12 Gribeauval, used as a siege weapon, and the canon de 12 Gribeauval, which was considered a heavy field artillery piece. Usage As the 12-pounder calibre was consistent with both the French and the British calibre systems, it was a widespread gun amongst nations between the 17th and the 19th century. From the late 18th century, the French Navy used the 12-pounder in three capacities: as main gun on early frigates under Louis XIV, on standard frigates under Louis XV and on light frigates under Louis XVI; as secondary artillery on 64-gun ships; to arm the castles of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
