HMS ''Genoa'' 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 ...

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 tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

laid down for the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

as ''Brillant'' which the British captured incomplete while still on slip at the fall of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

in 1814. She was completed for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and served as HMS ''Genoa'' until 1838. On 20 October 1827 ''Genoa'' took part in the

Battle of Navarino The Battle of Navarino was a naval battle fought on 20 October (O. S. 8 October) 1827, during the Greek War of Independence (1821–29), in Navarino Bay (modern Pylos), on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. Allied fo ...

where her captain

Walter Bathurst Walter Bathurst (1764?–20 October 1827), was a captain in the British Royal Navy who was killed at the Battle of Navarino. Biography His father was one of the thirty-six children of Sir Benjamin Bathurst MP, the younger brother of Allen, fir ...

was killed.

Service

Capture

''Brillant'' was constructed at

between February 1812 and April 1815, as the city had been annexed by France in 1805. On 18 April 1814 she was captured while still in construction by an invading British squadron commanded by Captain Sir

Josias Rowley Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet, (1765 – 10 January 1842), known as "The Sweeper of the Seas", was an Anglo-Irish naval officer who commanded the campaign that captured the French Indian Ocean islands of Réunion and Mauritius in 1810 ...

.Clowes, Royal Navy vol. 5, p. 306 She was completed by the

as HMS ''Genoa'' and launched on 18 April 1815.Winfield, British Warships, p. 226Genoa, 1814
, Naval Database.

Royal Navy career

''Genoa'' sailed for Britain after her launching and arrived at

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

on 13 October 1815. From September 1816 to February 1818 ''Genoa'' underwent repairs to configure her as a British ship instead of the French one she was constructed as. Her first role was as

guard ship A guard ship is a warship assigned as a stationary guard in a port or harbour, as opposed to a coastal patrol boat, which serves its protective role at sea. Royal Navy In the Royal Navy of the eighteenth century, peacetime guard ships were usual ...

at Chatham from 18 May until October 1821 under Captain

Frederick Lewis Maitland Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland (7 September 177730 November 1839) was an officer in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He rose to the rank of rear admiral and held a number of commands. The most f ...

.Winfield, British Warships, p. 227Phillips
''Genoa'' (78) (1814)
Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 15 April 2021. ''Genoa'' was then commissioned on 3 October under Captain Sir Thomas Livingstone to serve on the Lisbon Station, which she did until 1825.O'Byrne, Naval Biographical Dictionary, p. 663 While off Lisbon, Captain William Cumberland assumed command in October 1824, and in turn was replaced by Captain

who by 27 May 1825 had ''Genoa'' as part of the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...

. On 20 October 1827 ''Genoa'' and the fleet took part in the

.Laughton, National Biography, p. 412 ''Genoa'' received heavy fire during the battle in her role supporting the flagship HMS ''Asia'', resulting in high casualty numbers. The enemy Turks fired their guns high into ''Genoa'', killing so many

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

on the

poop deck In naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that forms the roof of a cabin built in the rear, or " aft", part of the superstructure of a ship. The name originates from the French word for stern, ''la poupe'', from Latin ''puppis''. Thus th ...

that they were forced to retreat to the lower

quarterdeck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...

to lessen their casualties. She had the most men killed during the battle of the British ships present, twenty six, including Captain Bathurst. Bathurst was injured early on by a large

splinter A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...

lacerating his face, and was later killed by a

round shot A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a la ...

. Command of ''Genoa'' during the battle then devolved to her second captain, Commander Richard Dickinson. Admiral

Edward Codrington Sir Edward Codrington, (27 April 1770 – 28 April 1851) was a British admiral, who took part in the Battle of Trafalgar and the Battle of Navarino. Early life and career The youngest of three brothers born to Edward Codrington the elder (1732 ...

described ''Genoas manoeuvres to assist his flagship during the battle as 'beautiful'.Clowes, Royal Navy vol. 6, p. 258 Captain

Charles Leonard Irby Charles Leonard Irby (9 October 1789 – 3 December 1845) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. He undertook a tour of Europe and the Middle East between 1816 and 1818. Early life ...

was appointed by Codrington to take ''Genoa'' home in the place of Bathurst, and by November she had arrived at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. ''Genoa'' was

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...

in January 1828 before becoming a

receiving ship A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Hulk may be used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, an abandoned wreck or shell, or to refer to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipmen ...

between 1833 and 1837. She was

broken up Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction ...

at Plymouth in January 1838.

Notes

Citations

References

* Clowes, William Laird (1900) ''The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to 1900 Volume Five.'' London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company. * Clowes, William Laird (1901) ''The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to 1900 Volume Six.'' London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company. * Laughton, John Knox (1885) ''Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 03.'' London: Smith, Elder & Co. * O'Byrne, William R. (1849) ''A Naval Biographical Dictionary: Comprising the Life and Services of every Living Officer in Her Majesty's Navy, from the Rank of Admiral of the Fleet to that of Lieutenant, inclusive Volume 2.'' London: J. Murray. * * *

External links

*
Ships of the Old Navy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Genoa Ships of the line of the French Navy Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Téméraire-class ships of the line 1815 ships