''Impétueux'' 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 ...

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 The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

. She took part in the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June, also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was fought on 1 June 1794 between the British and French navies during the War of the First Coalition. It was the first and largest fleet a ...

in 1794. During the battle, became tangled with ''Impétueux''. Badly damaged and on the verge of surrender, ''Impétueux'' received a brief reprieve when ''Mucius'' appeared through the smoke and collided with both ships. The three entangled ships continued exchanging fire, all suffering heavy casualties with ''Marlborough'' and ''Impétueux'' losing all three of their masts. This combat continued for several hours. Captain Berkeley of ''Marlborough'' had to retire below with serious wounds, and command fell to Lieutenant John Monkton, who signalled for help from the frigates in reserve. Robert Stopford responded in HMS ''Aquilon'' (1786), which had the assignment of repeating signals, and towed ''Marlborough'' out of the line as ''Mucius'' freed herself and made for the regrouped French fleet to the north. ''Impétueux'' was in too damaged a state to move at all and sailors from soon seized her. The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

intended to take into service as HMS ''Impetueux'', but she was destroyed in an accidental fire at Portsmouth on 24 August 1794 and so was never commissioned. During the battle of The Glorious First of June, the Royal Navy had also captured her sister ship , which it renamed HMS ''Impetueux'' in 1795.

References

Ships of the line of the French Navy Téméraire-class ships of the line 1787 ships Shipwrecks in the Solent Maritime incidents in 1794 Ships built in France {{France-line-ship-stub

See also

References