''Impétueux'' was a 74-gun

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. Launched at Lorient, France, on 24 January 1803 as ''Brutus'', she was renamed ''Impétueux'' on 5 February 1803. ''Impétueux'' served in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

under Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez during the Atlantic campaign of 1806. On 19 August 1806, ''Impétueux'' was dismasted in a storm and drifted until 10 September 1806. On 14 September 1806, she was chased by

Sir Richard John Strachan Sir Richard John Strachan, 6th Baronet Order of the Bath, GCB (27 October 1760 – 3 February 1828) was a British officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the ...

's Royal Navy squadron comprising , and ; unable to fight, she beached herself in the Chesapeake Bay. Her wreck was set ablaze by the British and the crew was taken prisoner.

References

Ships of the line of the French Navy Téméraire-class ships of the line 1803 ships Ships built in France Maritime incidents in 1806 Shipwrecks in the Chesapeake Bay {{France-line-ship-stub

See also

References