The Redoutable was a Téméraire class

Téméraire class ship of the line

The Téméraire class ships of the line was a class of 107 74-gun ships of the line built between 1782 and 1813 for the French navy. The type was and remains the most numerous class of capital ship ever built....

 74-gun ship of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 of the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

. She is known for her duel with HMS Victory

HMS Victory

HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805....

 during the Battle of Trafalgar

Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....

 and for killing Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

 Horatio Nelson during the action.

Early career

Redoutable was laid down at Brest in January 1790, and launched as the Suffren on 31 May 1791. She was completed there in December 1792. Her crew took part in the mutiny

Mutiny

Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...

 of the vessels attached to the squadron of Vice-Admiral Morard de Galles.

She was subsequently renamed Redoutable on 20 May 1794. In March 1802, the Redoutable was the flagship of a squadron of two ships of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 and four frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

s under Admiral Bouvet

François Joseph Bouvet

- Early life :Son of a captain in the service of the French East India Company, he went to sea at the age of twelve with his father aboard the Villevault in 1765. In 1780, Bouvet served in the East Indies in the famous campaign of 1781–83 under the command of Suffren...

 sent to reinforce Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...

 in 1802 and Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...

 in 1803.

She took part in the Expédition d'Irlande

Expédition d'Irlande

The Expédition d'Irlande was an unsuccessful attempt by the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars to assist the outlawed Society of United Irishmen, a popular rebel Irish republican group, in their planned rebellion against British rule...

, reaching Bantry

Bantry

Bantry is a town on the coast of County Cork, Ireland. It lies on the N71 national secondary road at the head of Bantry Bay, a deep-water gulf extending for 30 km to the west...

 Bay, where she accidentally collided with the Résolue, destroying her bowsprit

Bowsprit

The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a pole extending forward from the vessel's prow. It provides an anchor point for the forestay, allowing the fore-mast to be stepped farther forward on the hull.-Origin:...

, foremast, mainmast and mizzen.

Battle of Trafalgar

At the Battle of Trafalgar

Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....

, on 21 October 1805, Redoutable was commanded by capitaine de vaisseau Lucas

Jean Jacques Etienne Lucas

Jean Jacques Étienne Lucas was a French Navy officer, famous for his role in the Battle of Trafalgar.-Career:Born in Marennes, he joined the French Navy at the age of 15. From 1779 to 1782 he sailed on the Hermione...

, and came immediately after the flagship Bucentaure

French ship Bucentaure (1804)

Bucentaure was a 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was the flagship of Vice-Admiral Latouche Tréville, who died on board on 18 August 1804....

 in the French line. She was kept so close to the Bucentaure, to protect her stern, that she forced HMS Victory

HMS Victory

HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805....

 to run afoul of her, dropping alongside, and eventually striking to her.

Her crew fiercely engaged the Victory, causing considerable damage. The crew and soldiers of the Redoutable maintained a heavy fire on the quarterdeck with hand-grenades and small arms, and a French marksman mortally wounded Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

 Horatio Nelson from the mizzen fighting top. Lucas later reported:
The French crew were about to board the Victory when HMS Temeraire

HMS Temeraire (1798)

HMS Temeraire was a 98-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1798, she served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, mostly on blockades or convoy escort duties...

 intervened, firing on the exposed French crew at point blank range. At 1.55 pm, the Redoutable, with Captain Lucas severely wounded, and only 99 men still fit out of 643 (300 dead and 222 severely wounded), was essentially defenceless. The Fougueux attempted to come to her aid but came afoul of HMS Temeraire. After it was ascertained that she was too damaged to survive after the battle, the Redoutable, leaking water and without hope of being rescued, struck her colours. The Victory had sustained 160 casualties, and the Temeraire, 120. The Redoutable was captured by the British, and foundered during the storm of the next day. Lucas reported:
After his release from capture Captain Lucas was personally awarded the 'Gold Cross of the Legion of Honor' by Napoleon for his courageous effort during the battle.