''Généreux'' was a French

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. After capture she completed her career as part of 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 ...

as HMS ''Généreux''.

History

She was launched in 1785 at

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...

. Under Louis-Jean-Nicolas Lejoille, she was one of only two ships to escape the British attack at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798, along with . Shortly after the battle of the Nile, on 18 August 1798, she fell in with a smaller British ship of the line, of 50 guns. After a long battle, the ''Généreux'' captured the ''Leander'', with the ''Leander'' suffering 35 killed and 57 wounded and the ''Généreux'' suffered around 100 killed and 180 wounded. In March 1799, ''Généreux'' escorted a convoy to Corfu. En route, her captain, Lejoille, decided to bombard Brindisi. He was killed in the ensuing exchange of fire, and lieutenant Claude Touffet took over. The city fell on 3 March after a two-hour battle. On 6 February 1800, ''Généreux'', under Captain Renaudin, departed from Toulon leading a squadron comprising the frigate ''Badine'', the corvettes ''Sans Pareille'' and ''Fauvette'', and the fluyt ''Ville de Marseille'', under Rear-Admiral

Jean-Baptiste Perrée Jean-Baptiste Perrée (19 December 1761Levot, p.394 in 1866 write 19 April 1761 – 18 February 1800Levot, p.395) was a French Navy officer and Rear-admiral. Career Born to a family of sailors in Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, Perrée started sailing i ...

. In the morning of 18 February, an English fleet chased the French squadron off

Lampedusa Lampedusa ( , , ; scn, Lampidusa ; grc, Λοπαδοῦσσα and Λοπαδοῦσα and Λοπαδυῦσσα, Lopadoûssa; mt, Lampeduża) is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The ''comune'' of L ...

island. In the ensuing Battle of the Malta Convoy, Perrée was killed, and ''Généreux'' covered the squadron, allowing ''Badine'', ''Sans Pareille'' and ''Fauvette'' to escape, before striking her colours. Her battle ensign, a 16 m by 8.3 m tricolour, was given to the city of Norwich by Berry and Nelson. The flag has been preserved; its size and completeness marking it as a special artefact of the period. She became HMS ''Généreux'' and she was in Minorca in 1801 when she press-ganged a crew from the ''Walmesley''. She engaged Spanish ships and she was intended to go to Egypt. Storm damage prevented this so she patrolled off what is now Libya. After taking part in an unsuccessful attack on the French island of

Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano Nationa ...

, she set sail from Minorca for Spithead after peace was declared. She arrived at

Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...

on 27 July 1802. She was finally broken up in 1816.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Genereux (1785) Ships of the line of the French Navy Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Téméraire-class ships of the line 1785 ships Ships built in France

History

See also

References