HMS ''Ville de Paris'' was a 110-gun

first rate In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era The Jacobean era was the period in English and Scot ...

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 ...

, launched on 17 July 1795 at

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...

. She was designed by Sir John Henslow, and was the only ship built to her draught. She was named after the French ship of the line ''Ville de Paris'', flagship of

François Joseph Paul de Grasse François Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, Marquis of Grasse-Tilly SMOM (13 September 1722 – 11 January 1788) was a career French officer who achieved the rank of admiral. He is best known for his command of the French fleet at the Battle of the ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. That ship had been captured by the Royal Navy at the

Battle of the Saintes The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...

in April 1782, but in September of that year on the voyage to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

as a prize, she sank in a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

. She served as the flagship of

John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent (9 January 1735 – 13 March 1823) was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Jervis served throughout the latter half of the 18th century and into ...

, with the

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history the ...

. On 17 August 1803, the boats of ''Ville de Paris'' captured the French privateer ''Messager'' from among the rocks off Ushant.

Lloyd's Patriotic Fund Lloyd's Patriotic Fund was founded on 28 July 1803 at Lloyd's Coffee House, and continues to the present day. Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund now works closely with armed forces charities to identify the individuals and their families who are in urgent ne ...

awarded Lieutenant Watts, of ''Ville de Paris'', with an honour sword worth £50 for his role in the cutting out expedition. ''Messager'' was pierced for eight guns but had six mounted, and had her owner and 40 men aboard when Watts arrived with his pinnace and 18 men. The British captured her before the other boats from ''Ville de Paris'' could arrive. The French put up a minimal resistance and only suffered a few men lightly wounded; the British suffered no casualties. The action occurred in sight of the hired armed cutter ''Nimrod''. In January 1805 head and prize money from the proceeds of the French privateer ''Messager'' was due to be paid. On 18 January 1808, following the

Battle of Corunna The Battle of Corunna (or ''A Coruña'', ''La Corunna'', ''La Coruña'' or ''La Corogne''), in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a Briti ...

, ''Ville de Paris'' (Captain

John Surman Carden Admiral John Surman Carden (15 August 1771 – 22 April 1858) was an officer of the British Royal Navy in the early nineteenth century. Although the majority of his service was against the French during the Napoleonic Wars, he is best remembe ...

) evacuated ''twenty-three officers of the 50th, three of the 43rd, four of the 26th, three of the 18th, one of the 76th, two of the 52nd, two of the 36th, four Royal Engineers, and two Royal Artillery - a total of 44 officers,'' including General

Sir David Baird General Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet, of Newbyth, GCB (6 December 1757 – 18 August 1829) was a British Army officer. Military career He was born at Newbyth House in Haddingtonshire, Scotland, the son of an Edinburgh merchant family, and enter ...

, his ADC Captain Hon Alexander Gordon, Sir

John Colborne Field Marshal John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton, (16 February 1778 – 17 April 1863) was a British Army officer and colonial governor. After taking part as a junior officer in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland, Sir Ralph Abercromby's expedit ...

and Lieutenant Henry Percy. ''Ville de Paris'' also embarked several thousand soldiers. Later,

Admiral Collingwood Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood (26 September 1748 – 7 March 1810) was an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently as ...

died aboard her of cancer while on service in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, off Port Mahón, on 7 March 1810. On 22 July 1814, at the conclusion of the Peninsula War, ''Ville de Paris'' arrived off Portsmouth carrying the 43rd Light Infantry Battalion along with the 2nd Rifles.Urban, see below ''Ville de Paris'' was placed on harbour service in 1824, and she was broken up in 1845.

Notes

References

*British National Archives. ''Passengers on warships.''(TNA ADM 12, section 72.2) *Carden, John Surman (1912). ''A curtail'd memoir ... '' Ed Atkinson, C. T., Oxford. * *Costello, Edward (1841). ''Memoirs of Edward Costello KSF.'' Henry Colburn, London. Also published as ''The True Story of a Peninsular Rifleman,'' Singlepicker Press, 1997. * *Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650–1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . *Mahon, William (2017). ''Waterloo Messenger: The Life of Henry Percy, Peninsular Soldier and French Prisoner of War.'' Pen and Sword. *Urban, Mark (2003). ''Rifles: Six Years with Wellington's Legendary Sharpshooters.'' Faber & Faber.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ville de Paris Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Royal Navy ship names 1795 ships