''Intrépide'' 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 ...

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Rating When the rating system was f ...

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 ...

of the French navy. She was originally built at

Ferrol, Spain Ferrol (, ) is a city in the province of A Coruña in Galicia, Spain, located in the Rías Altas, in the vicinity of Strabo's Cape Nerium (modern-day Cape Prior). According to the 2021 census, the city had a population of 64,785, making it the ...

in 1790 by

José Romero y Fernández de Landa José Romero y Fernández de Landa (1735–1807), better known as Romero Landa was a Spanish military officer who was the Spanish Navy's first official naval engineer and Naval architecture, ship designer. He designed several two-and Three-decker, ...

as the Spanish ship of the line ''Intrepido'', one of the ten ships of the ''San Ildefonso'' Class, but was transferred to the French Navy in 1801 in accordance with the

Third Treaty of San Ildefonso The Third Treaty of San Ildefonso was a secret agreement signed on 1 October 1800 between Spain and the French Republic by which Spain agreed in principle to exchange its North American colony of Louisiana for territories in Tuscany. The terms we ...

signed in 1800.Roche, p.258 On 21 October 1805, ''Intrépide'' was one of the ships of Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley at 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 Captain Louis-Antoine Infernet. Dumanoir commanded the six ship vanguard of the French fleet, with , ''Duguay-Trouin'', , ''Intrépide'' and .

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

's attacks left these ships downwind of the main confrontation and Dumanoir did not immediately obey Villeneuve's orders to return to the battle. When the ships did turn back, most of them only exchanged a few shots before retiring. Infernet and his crew, wanting to join the fight, eventually disobeyed Dumanoir's orders and joined the battle, followed by the Spanish 80-gun (Captain Cayetano de Valdés). ''Intrépide'' fought against , , , , and , only to strike her colours at about 17:00, badly damaged with half of her crew dead. ''Intrépide'' was later

scuttled Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vesse ...

on Admiral Collingwood's orders, partly to avoid recapture by the counter-attack of the six ship French squadron led by Captain

Julien Cosmao Julien Marie Cosmao-Kerjulien (27 November 1761 – 17 February 1825) was a French Navy officer best known for his actions during the Battle of Trafalgar. Career Early career Completing his studies in Châteaulin, young Cosmao-Kerju ...

of , two days later, and partly because the severe gale made it impossible to save most of the damaged prizes.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Intrépide (1800) Ships of the line of the French Navy Ships built in Spain Shipwrecks of Spain 1790 ships Captured ships Napoleonic-era ships Maritime incidents in 1805

See also

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