''Algésiras'' was a
74-gun
The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently de ...
French ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...
built at
Lorient
Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France.
History
Prehistory and classical antiquity
Beginn ...
in 1804, named after the
Battle of Algeciras.
In 1805 she sailed to the
West Indies
The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
with where they joined a French fleet under Vice-Admiral
Villeneuve.
In October 1805 she took part in the
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...
, under Rear Admiral
Charles Magon. She was engaged by 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 , and the forward guns aimed at the . ''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
Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...
flying French colours.
On 14 June 1808 she
was captured by the Spanish along with all the other French ships in Cadiz.
See also
*
List of ships captured in the 19th century
Throughout naval history during times of war, battles, blockades, and other patrol missions would often result in the capture of enemy ships or those of a neutral country. If a ship proved to be a valuable prize, efforts would sometimes be made ...
Citations
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Algesiras
Ships of the line of the French Navy
Téméraire-class ships of the line
1804 ships
Captured ships
Napoleonic-era ships
Ships built in France