Jean François Renaudin (13 July 1750Levot, p.430 – 29 April 1809Levot, p.433) was a French Navy officer and Rear-Admiral. He is mostly known for captaining the ''Vengeur du Peuple'' at the Fourth Battle of Ushant.

Career

Early life

Renaudin was born to a modest family of Saint-Martin du Gua, and joined the merchant navy before enlisting in the French Royal Navy as a suppleant frigate lieutenant in 1779.Levot, p.431 He served on the fluyt ''Dorade'', on which he took part in four battles. He was promoted to Sous Lieutenant de Vaisseau on 1 May 1786. At the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, Renaudin was promoted to Lieutenant de Vaisseau on 1 January 1792, and to Captain on 1 January 1793;Amis du Patrimoine he was appointed to command the 20-gun corvette ''Perdrix'', cruising off Belle-Ile and Rochefort. He later transferred to the frigate ''Andromaque'', on which sustained a fight against a ship of the line and four Spanish frigates.

The ''Vengeur du Peuple'' at the Glorious First of June

Renaudin commanded the ''Vengeur du Peuple'' in the fleet of Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse. Exiting Brest, ''Vengeur'' was separated from her fleet, which prevented her from taking part in the action of 29 May 1794; on the next day, however, she sustained fire from ten British ships while preventing them from cutting the French

line of battle The line of battle is a tactic in naval warfare in which a fleet of ships forms a line end to end. The first example of its use as a tactic is disputed—it has been variously claimed for dates ranging from 1502 to 1652. Line-of-battle tacti ...

. On the next day, at the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...

, Renaudin led a fierce battle against HMS ''Brunswick'', in which ''Brunswick'' and ''Vengeur'' disabled each other. As ''Vengeur'' could not be rescued by French frigates, Renaudin asked for help from the British. Renaudin was rescued by HMS ''Culloden'' and abandoned his ship with the first British boat, leaving his men behind in disregard for military customs and the 1765 standing order that Captains had to be last to abandon ship,.Diaz de Soria, p.27 Though his account of the event insinuated that he was on a boat close to ''Vengeur'' when she foundered,Diaz de Soria, p.30 he was in fact dining in the mess of ''Culloden'' at the moment of the sinking.Fraser, p. 365 Taken in captivity in Tavistock, he wrote an account of the fight of ''Vengeur'' on 1 Messidor an II (19 June 1794), signed and had it co-signed by his staff, comprising, Jean Hugine, Louis Rousseau, Pelet, Trouvée, Lussot and others.Troude, p. 357. In France, Renaudin was assumed to be dead, and posthumously promoted to contre-amiral on 29 August 1794. RENAUDIN Jean-François.Contre-Amiral
/ref> His return astonished the convention on 10 September 1794, when Jean-Jacques Bréard stated: Nevertheless, in 1847,

Lamartine Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (; 21 October 179028 February 1869), was a French author, poet, and statesman who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic and the continuation of the Tricolore as the flag of France. ...

wrote a description where Renaudin was killed, cut in half by a cannon shot like Dupetit-Thouars, and Thiers later wrote an account repeating Barère's version, where ''Vengeur'' refused to surrender. Remarkably, neither the national Archives, nor the archives of the Navy, nor the archives of the War Council nor Renaudin's personal file mention any court-martial that should have been held automatically for the loss of the ship, in accordance with French law.Diaz de Soria, p.34

Later life

Renaudin was promoted to rear admiral on 29 August 1794, purportedly a posthumous honour, before being exchanged. He was put in command of '' Jemmapes'' before obtaining command of the 3rd Squadron of the naval army of the Ocean (the Brest fleet under Admiral

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), a 6-ship division, on 29 October 1794, with his flag on ''Jemmapes''. In late February 1795, Renaudin's division left Brest to reinforce the naval forces of Toulon, where it arrived on 3 April 1795.Rouvier On 24 March 1798, Renaudin was appointed to the 2nd squadron of the Brest fleet, succeeding Admiral Lelarge. From 21 March 1799, he commanded the naval forces of

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, before moving to Toulon to become the senior officer of the garrison on 25 May 1799, replacing Jean Gaspard VenceFond Marine, vol.1 p.223 who had fallen in disfavour after an altercation with Bruix. On 23 September 1799, Renaudin became general inspector of oceanic harbours from Cherbourg to Bayonne,. He retired on 4 April 1801, and died in Le Gua.

Honours

* Renaudin's name is engraved on the Arc de Triomphe (40th column). * Three ships of the

French navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

named ''Renaudin'' in his honour.

Notes and references

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations ; divisions et stations navales ; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier : BB4 1 à 482 (1790-1826

External links

RENAUDIN Jean-François.Contre-Amiral
Les Amis du Patrimois napoléonien {{DEFAULTSORT:Renaudin, Jean Francois French Navy admirals 1750 births 1809 deaths French naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars People from Charente-Maritime Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe