HMS Robust (1764) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
HMS ''Robust'' was a 74-gun
In 1778 she was at the Battle of Ushant in Palliser's division of the fleet. Her captain, Alexander Hood, took Palliser's side in the subsequent 
On 12 October 1798 she captured the French ship ''
HMS ''Robust'' was a 74-gun 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). Years of experience proved that the third r ...
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 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 ...
, built by John Barnard
John Edward Barnard (born 4 May 1946, Wembley, London) is an English engineer and racing car designer. Barnard is credited with the introduction of two new designs into Formula One: the carbon fibre composite chassis first seen in with Mc ...
and launched on 25 October 1764 at Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...
. She was the first vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name.
Service history
In 1778 she was at the Battle of Ushant in Palliser's division of the fleet. Her captain, Alexander Hood, took Palliser's side in the subsequent court martial
A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
known as "the Keppel affair".
''Robust'' was part of the fleet under Lord Hood that occupied Toulon
Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
in August 1793. With , , and , she covered the landing, on 27 August, of 1500 troops sent to remove the republicans occupying the forts guarding the port. Once the forts were secure, the remainder of Hood's fleet, accompanied by 17 Spanish ships-of-the-line which had just arrived, sailed into the harbour.James (Vol.I) p. 69
On 12 October 1798 she captured the French ship ''Hoche
Louis Lazare Hoche (; 24 June 1768 – 19 September 1797) was a French military leader of the French Revolutionary Wars. He won a victory over Royalist forces in Brittany. His surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on ...
'' while under the command of Sir John Warren John Warren may refer to:
Medicine
* John Warren (surgeon) (1753–1815), American surgeon during the Revolutionary War
* John Collins Warren (1778–1856), American surgeon
* John Collins Warren Jr. (1842–1927), American surgeon, son of John C ...
at the Battle of Tory Island
The Battle of Tory Island (sometimes called the Battle of Donegal, Battle of Lough Swilly or Warren's Action) was a naval action of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought on 12 October 1798 between French and British squadrons off the northwes ...
.
On 21 July 1801, the boats of ''Robust'', , and succeeded in boarding and cutting out the French naval corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
''Chevrette'', which was armed with 20 guns and had 350 men on board (crew and troops placed on board in expectation of the attack). Also, ''Chevrette'' was under the batteries of Bay of Cameret. The hired armed cutter placed herself in the Goulet and thereby prevented the French from bringing reinforcements by boat to ''Chevrette''.
The action was a sanguinary one. The British lost 11 men killed, 57 wounded, and one missing; ''Chevrette'' lost 92 officers, seamen and troops killed, including her first captain, and 62 seamen and troops wounded. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "21 JULY BOAT SERVICE 1801" to surviving claimants from the action.
Fate
''Robust'' was employed on harbour service from 1812, and was broken up in 1817.Notes
Citations
References
* * Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. .External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robust (1764) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Ramillies-class ships of the line 1764 ships Ships built in Harwich