''Impétueux'' 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 ...

of 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 ...

. She took part in the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...

in 1794. During the battle, became tangled with ''Impétueux''. Badly damaged and on the verge of surrender, ''Impétueux'' received a brief reprieve when ''Mucius'' appeared through the smoke and collided with both ships. The three entangled ships continued exchanging fire, all suffering heavy casualties with ''Marlborough'' and ''Impétueux'' losing all three of their masts. This combat continued for several hours. Captain Berkeley of ''Marlborough'' had to retire below with serious wounds, and command fell to Lieutenant John Monkton, who signalled for help from the frigates in reserve.

Robert Stopford Robert Wright Stopford, (20 February 1901 – 13 August 1976) was a British Anglican bishop. Early life and education Stopford was born in Garston, Merseyside (then in Lancashire), and educated at Coatham School in Redcar and Liverpool Colle ...

responded in , which had the assignment of repeating signals, and towed ''Marlborough'' out of the line as ''Mucius'' freed herself and made for the regrouped French fleet to the north. ''Impétueux'' was in too damaged a state to move at all and sailors from soon seized her. 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 ...

intended to take into service as HMS ''Impetueux'', but she was destroyed in an accidental fire at Portsmouth on 24 August 1794 and so was never commissioned. During the battle of The Glorious First of June, the Royal Navy had also captured her sister ship , which it renamed HMS ''Impetueux'' in 1795.

References

Ships of the line of the French Navy Téméraire-class ships of the line 1787 ships Shipwrecks in the Solent Maritime incidents in 1794 Ships built in France {{France-line-ship-stub

See also

References