HMS Implacable (1805)
Encyclopedia
HMS Implacable was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. She was originally 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...
's Téméraire-class ship of the line
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....
Duguay-Trouin, launched in 1800.
She survived 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 ....
only for the British to capture her at the subsequent Battle of Cape Ortegal
Battle of Cape Ortegal
The Battle of Cape Ortegal was the final action of the Trafalgar Campaign, and was fought between a squadron of the Royal Navy and a remnant of the fleet that had been destroyed several weeks earlier at the Battle of Trafalgar...
. In British service she participated in the capture of the Imperial Russian Navy
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...
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...
Vsevolod
Russian ship Vsevolod (1796)
The Russian ship Vsevolod was a 74-gun ship of the line launched in 1796. She served in the North Sea and the Baltic until the British 74-gun third rates Implacable and Centaur destroyed her in 1808 during the Anglo-Russian War .-Service:On 3 July 1798 Vsevolod was at Arkhangel’sk, serving as...
(Russian: Всеволод) in the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
in 1808 during the Anglo-Russian War
Anglo-Russian War (1807-1812)
The Anglo-Russian War occurred during the Napoleonic Wars. Hostilities were limited primarily to a small number of naval actions in the Baltic, though there were also attacks in the Barents Sea...
. Later, Implacable became a training ship. Eventually, she became the second oldest ship in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
after , Lord Nelson's
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
at Trafalgar. When the Royal Navy finally scuttled Implacable in 1949, she flew both the French and British flags side-by-side as she sank.
French career
René Duguay-Trouin
René Trouin, Sieur du Gué, usually called René Duguay-Trouin, was a famous French corsair of Saint-Malo. He had a brilliant privateering and naval career and eventually became "Lieutenant-General of the Naval Armies of the King" , and a Commander in the Order of Saint-Louis...
. Construction, to a plan by Rolland but update to a plan by Sané
Jacques-Noël Sané
Jacques-Noël Sané was a French naval engineer, one of the most successful shipbuilders of the Age of Sail.Sané studied under Duhamel du Monceau...
, began in 1794 but was interrupted in 1795. She was launched at Rochefort
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
in 1800.
On 22 November 1802, under Captain Claude Touffet, she departed Toulon as part of a squadron commanded by Commodore Pierre-Maurice-Julien Querangal, also comprising the frigate Guerrière
HMS Guerriere (1806)
HMS Guerriere was a 38-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, which had previously sailed with the French Navy as the Guerrière. She became famous for her fight against ....
and the flagship Duquesne
French ship Duquesne (1787)
The Duquesne was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.It directed in 1793, under captain Vence, an important convoy of Levant then escaped the hostile monitoring from a squadron Anglo-Spanish....
, a sister Téméraire-class vessel armed en flûte
En flûte
Arming a ship en flûte means removing some or all of the artillery. Since ships have a limited amount of cargo space, they may be armed en flûte to make room for other cargo, such as troops and ammunition...
. Bound for 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...
, the squadron found itself blockaded in Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
by HMS Elephant
HMS Elephant (1786)
HMS Elephant was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by George Parsons in Bursledon, Hampshire, and launched on 24 August 1786....
, Bellerophon
HMS Bellerophon (1786)
The first HMS Bellerophon of the Royal Navy was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line launched on 6 October 1786 at Frindsbury on the River Medway, near Chatham. She was built at the shipyard of Edward Greaves to the specifications of the Arrogant, designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1758, the lead ship...
, Theseus
HMS Theseus (1786)
HMS Theseus was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.One of the eight Culloden class ships designed by Thomas Slade, she was built at Perry, Blackwall Yard, London and launched on 25 September 1786.-Service:...
and Vanguard
HMS Vanguard (1787)
HMS Vanguard was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 March 1787 at Deptford. She was the sixth vessel to bear the name....
. After a successful sortie in the dark, the squadron split up. Guerrière and Duguay-Trouin managed to escape but Vanguard, with Tartar
HMS Tartar (1801)
HMS Tartar was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, built at Frindsbury and launched in 1801. She captured privateers on the Jamaica station and fought in the Gunboat War and elsewhere in the Baltic before being lost to grounding off Estonia in 1811.-Jamaica station:Captain James Walker...
, captured Duquesne.
Under Capitaine de Vaisseau Lhermite she participated in an action at Cap Français
Cap-Haïtien
Cap-Haïtien is a city of about 190,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the Department of Nord...
.
On 21 October 1805, the Duguay-Trouin took part in 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 ....
, where she was part of the vanguard of the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
fleet under Contre-amiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley
Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley
Vice-Admiral Count Pierre-Etienne-René-Marie Dumanoir Le Pelley was a French Navy officer, best known for commanding the vanguard of the French fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar.- Early career :...
, and was one of four French ships that escaped capture that day.
Capture
Sir Richard Strachan, 6th Baronet
Sir Richard John Strachan, 6th Baronet GCB was a British officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral.-Childhood:...
, with Caesar
HMS Caesar (1793)
HMS Caesar, also Cæsar, was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 November 1793 at Plymouth. She was designed by Sir Edward Hunt, and was the only ship built to her draught.-Battle of Algeciras Bay:...
, Hero
HMS Hero (1803)
HMS Hero was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, launched on 18 August 1803 at Blackwall Yard.She took part in Admiral Robert Calder's action at the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805....
, Courageux
HMS Courageux (1800)
HMS Courageux was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 26 March 1800 at Deptford. She was designed by Sir John Henslow as one of the large class 74s, and was the only ship built to her draught...
, Namur
HMS Namur (1756)
HMS Namur was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1750, and launched on 3 March 1756....
and four frigates, defeated and captured what remained of the Franco-Spanish fleet. In the battle, the captain of Duguay-Trouin, Claude Touffet
Claude Touffet
Captain Claude Touffet was a French Navy officer.- Biography :...
, was killed, her masts were shot away, and she was eventually captured.
British service in the Napoleonic Wars
The Royal NavyRoyal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
commissioned her as a third rate under the name HMS Implacable. Implacable served with the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
for the rest of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
.
Anglo-Russian War
In early 1808 Russia initiated the Finnish WarFinnish War
The Finnish War was fought between Sweden and the Russian Empire from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire...
in response to Sweden's refusal to bow to Russian pressure to join the anti-British alliance. Russia captured Finland and made it a Grand Duchy under the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. The British decided to take counter-measures and in May sent a fleet, including Centaur, under Vice-Admiral Sir James Saumarez
James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez
Admiral James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez , GCB was an admiral of the British Royal Navy, notable for his victory at the Battle of Algeciras.-Early life:...
to the Baltic. Thus in March 1808 Implacable was in the Baltic, under the command of Captain Thomas Byam Martin
Thomas Byam Martin
Admiral Sir Thomas Byam Martin, GCB was a highly influential British Royal Navy officer who served at sea during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and then as a naval administrator until his death in 1854...
.
On 9 July, the Russian fleet, under Admiral Peter Khanykov, came out from Kronstadt
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
. The Swedes massed a fleet under Swedish Admiral Cederstrom, consisting of 11 line-of-battle ships and 5 frigates at Örö
Oro
Oro means gold in Italian and Spanish.Oro may refer to:Places* Oro, Estonia, a village in Estonia* Orø, an island in DenmarkIn music:*"Oro" , the Serbian entry in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest...
and Jungfrusund to oppose them. On 16 August, Saumarez then sent Centaur
HMS Centaur (1797)
HMS Centaur was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 March 1797 at Woolwich. She served as Sir Samuel Hood's flagship in the Leeward Islands and the Channel. During her 22-year career Centaur saw action in the Mediterranean, the Channel, the West Indies, and the Baltic, fighting...
and Implacable to join the Swedish fleet. They chased two Russian frigates on 19 July and joined the Swedes the following day.
On 22 August, the Russian fleet, which consisted of nine ships of the line, five large frigates and six smaller ones, moved from Hango and appeared off the Örö roads the next day. The Swedish ships from Jungfur Sound had joined Rear-Admiral Nauckhoff and by the evening of 24 August the combined Anglo-Swedish force had made its preparations. Early the next day they sailed from
Örö to meet the Russians.
The Anglo-Swedish force discovered the Russians off Hango Udd. but the Russians retreated as the Allied ships followed them. Centaur and Implacable exhibited superior sailing and slowly outdistanced their Swedish allies. At 5am on 26 August Implacable caught up with a Russian straggler, the 74-gun Vsevolod
Russian ship Vsevolod (1796)
The Russian ship Vsevolod was a 74-gun ship of the line launched in 1796. She served in the North Sea and the Baltic until the British 74-gun third rates Implacable and Centaur destroyed her in 1808 during the Anglo-Russian War .-Service:On 3 July 1798 Vsevolod was at Arkhangel’sk, serving as...
(also Sewolod), under Captain Rudnew (or Roodneff).
Implacable and Vsevolod exchanged fire for about 20 minutes before Vsevolod ceased firing. Vsevolod hauled down her colours, but Hood recalled Implacable because the Russian fleet was approaching. During the fight Implacable lost six dead and 26 wounded; Vsevolod lost some 48 dead and 80 wounded.
The Russian frigate Poluks then towed Vsevolod towards Rager Vik
Paldiski
Paldiski is a town and Baltic Sea port situated on the Pakri peninsula of north-western Estonia. Originally a Swedish settlement known as Rågervik, it became a Russian naval base in the 18th century. The Russians renamed it Балтийский Порт Paldiski is a town and Baltic Sea port situated on the...
(Ragerswik or Rogerswick), but when Centaur started to chase them the frigate dropped her tow. The Russians sent out boats to bring her in, in which endeavor they almost succeeded. They did succeed in putting 100 men aboard her as reinforcements and to replace her casualties.
However, just outside the port, Centaur was able to collide with Vsevolod. A party of seamen from Centaur then lashed her mizzen to the Russian bowsprit before Centaur opened fire. Vsevolod dropped her anchor and with both ships stuck in place, both sides attempted to board the other vessel. In the meantime, Implacable had come up and added her fire to the melee. After a battle of about half an hour, the Russian vessel struck again.
Implacable hauled Centaur off. Their prize was so firmly aground that after taking out the prisoners and wounded men, Sir Samuel Hood, in Centaur, ordered Vsevolod to be burnt. The British removed their prisoners and then set fire to Vsevolod, which blew up some hours later. Centaur had lost three killed and 27 wounded. Vsevolod lost another 124 men killed and wounded in the battle with Centaur; 56 Russians escaped by swimming ashore. In all, Vsevolod had lost 303 killed, wounded and missing.
The action with Vsevolod was the largest engagement during the Anglo-Russian War. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with the clasps "Implacable 26 Augt. 1808" and "Centaur 26 Augt. 1808" to all surviving claimants from the action.
Vice-Admiral Saumerez with his entire squadron joined the Anglo-Swedish squadron the next day. They then blockaded Khanykov's squadron for some months. After the British and the Swedes abandoned the blockade, the Russian fleet was able to return to Kronstadt.
Return to the Baltic
By the summer of 1809 Martin and Implacable were back in the Baltic and Admiral Saumarez sent her and Melpomene to sail east of NargenNaissaar
Naissaar is an island northwest of Tallinn in Estonia. The island covers an area of 18.6 km². It is 13-14 km long and 6 km wide, and lies about 8.5 km from the mainland. The highest point on the island is Kunilamägi, which is 27 meters above sea-level. The island consists predominantly of...
Island. At the beginning of July 1809 she and Melpomene sailed into the Gulf of Narva
Narva Bay
The Narva Bay is a bay in the southern part of the Gulf of Finland divided between Estonia and Russia. The Kurgalsky Peninsula separates it from the Luga Bay to the east. The bay is about long and wide at its mouth. The eastern shore is low and sandy, while the south coast is rather steep...
, some 110 miles east of Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
. There they captured nine vessels laden with timber, spars and cordage, which were the property of the Russian Emperor. Implacable, Melpomene and deployed their boats to search all the creeks and inlets around the gulf, which yielded them three more cargo vessels. More importantly, the British discovered that a convoy was sheltering under Percola Point with an escort of eight gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
s. Each Russian gun-boat mounted both a 32 and a 24-pounder gun, and had a crew of 46 men. The British decided to send in a cutting out party to seize the convoy, and its protectors. In Martin's word, the intent was to "to impress these Strangers with that Sense of Respect and Fear, which His Majesty's other Enemies are accustomed to show to the British Flag".
At 9pm on 7 July, Implacable, Melpomene, Prometheus and assembled 17 boats, all under the command of Lieutenant Joseph Hawkey of Implacable. The Russians expected the British attack and positioned their vessels between two rocks off Hango Head (Hangöudde). This meant that the British would have to come straight towards the gunboats' cannon rather than flanking them. The British came straight in, enduring the fire without firing back, until they reached the Russians, at which point they boarded the gunboats.
Of the eight gunboats, the British captured six, among them gun boats No.5, No.10, No. 13, and No.15. They sank one gunboat and one escaped. The British also captured all twelve of the ships and vessels the gunboats had been protecting, as well as a large armed ship, which they burnt. These were laden with powder and provisions for the Russian army. British losses were heavy. Grapeshot killed Hawkey while he was boarding his second gunboat. Including Hawkey, Implacable lost six men killed and 17 wounded. In all, the British lost 17 men killed and 37 wounded. The Russians lost at least 65 men killed, and 127 taken prisoner, of whom 51 were wounded. For this action, the Admiralty issued the clasp "7 July Boat Service 1809" to the Naval General Service Medal.
France and Spain
In January 1810 Captain George CockburnGeorge Cockburn
Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet GCB was a British naval commander of the late 18th through the mid-19th centuries. He held important commands during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 and eventually rose to become Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord.-Naval...
took command of Implacable. She then sailed to Quiberon Bay
Quiberon Bay
The Baie de Quiberon is an area of sheltered water on the south coast of Brittany. The bay is in the Morbihan département.-Geography:The bay is roughly triangular in shape, open to the south with the Gulf of Morbihan to the north-east and the narrow peninsular of Presqu'île de Quiberon providing...
with a small squadron that also included "Disdainful", a brig and the schooner , all escorting the Baron de Kolli. His mission was to arrange the escape of Ferdinand VII of Spain, whom the French had imprisoned at the Chateau of Valençay. The mission failed when Ferdinand refused to have anything to do with the British, and Kolli was arrested.The Admiralty has no record of an HMS Disdainful. It is therefore not clear which vessel this was. Implacable then returned to Spithead.
On 17 July Rear Admiral Sir Richard Keats arrived on Implacable to take charge of the British support of the Spanish in the Siege of Cádiz
Siege of Cádiz
The Siege of Cádiz was a siege of the large Spanish naval base of Cádiz by a French army from February 5, 1810 to August 24, 1812 during the Peninsular War. Following the occupation of Madrid on March 23, 1808, Cádiz became the Spanish seat of power, and was targeted by 60,000 French troops under...
. Marshal Victor's
Claude Victor-Perrin, duc de Belluno
Claude Victor-Perrin, First Duc de Belluno was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars...
French army had completely blockaded the Isla de León
Isla de León
Isla de León is a historical name for the piece of land between the city of Cádiz and the Spanish peninsula.In 1813 it was renamed San Fernando in honour of King Fernando VII of Spain for his courage in the defense of the city during the Siege of Cádiz by the French....
by land and were further fortifying the coast with works that supplemented the existing defences. Eleven or twelve British and Spanish line-of-battle ships anchored as close to shore as they could without grounding. The allied troops defending Leon consisted of 16,500 Spaniards, 4,000 British and Germans, and 1,400 Portuguese.
In August the Allies attacked the French at Moguer
Moguer
Moguer is a municipality and small city located in the province of Huelva, Andalusia, Spain. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 18,381. Its surface area is , and its population density is ....
, a town in the province of Huelva
Huelva (province)
Huelva is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by Portugal, the provinces of Badajoz, Seville, and Cádiz, and the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Huelva....
. Cockburn, sailing in the brig-sloop , directed the naval portion of the attack. General Lacey's Spanish troops and horses landed from the transports on 23 August about 22 miles south of the town. They then marched along the beach with 11 flat boats under Lieutenant Westphal of Implacable moving with them. The boats then ferried the troops across a large branch of the river, enabling the troops to reach Moguer next morning. The Spanish took the French somewhat by surprise and drove them out of the town. The French, numbering perhaps 1100 men, rallied and counter-attacked several times, but without success. The Spaniards followed them, but most of the French were cavalry and were able to withdraw towards Seville. Spanish casualties were slight.
Milford
HMS Milford (1809)
HMS Milford was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 1 April 1809 at Milford Haven. She was designed by Jean-Louis Barrallier as a large class 74, and was the only ship built to her draught...
arrived in Cadiz on 2 September and Rear Admiral Keats moved to her. On 6 September Implacable sailed from Cadiz to Havana as escort to two Spanish 3-deckers. From there she sailed to Vera Cruz, Mexico, to pick up specie. She returned to Cadiz on 18 February 1811 with 2,000,000 dollars on board.Cockburn benefited personally from this mission in that under the regulations of the period a captain was entitled to a commission of one or two percent of the value of the specie carried in his vessel. Implacable then participated in the defense of the Isla de Leon. In August Captain I. R. Watson took command. By 1813 Implacable was back in Plymouth.
Post war
From August to November 1840 Implacable participated in the bombardment and capture of AcreAcre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
, and operations on the coast of Syria. The Ottoman government awarded medals to the officers and men employed during the campaign. In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Syria" to the officers and men who had participated in the campaign and who claimed the medal.
From the Eastern Mediterranean Implacable sailed to Malta and then spent about a year in the Mediterranean, though she made one trip to Plymouth. She visited Syracuse, Corfu, Gibraltar and Tunis. By 15 February 1842, she was in Devonport, condemned as unfit for sea service. She was to be docked to extend her life.
Post active service
From 1844 she was out of commission at Devonport. A conversion to a training ship permitted her to return to service in June 1855 in the HamoazeHamoaze
The Hamoaze is an estuarine stretch of the tidal River Tamar, between the River Lynher and Plymouth Sound, England.The Hamoaze flows past Devonport Dockyard, which belongs to the Royal Navy...
. Initially she was under the command of Captain Arthur Lowe. In January 1865, under Commander Edward Hay, she became a training ship for boys. Commander Henry Carr took command in October 1877, with Commander Thomas Jackson following him in 1880.
In 1908 King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
intervened to save the ship. In 1912 she was handed over to philanthropist Geoffrey Wheatly Cobb for preservation, and for use as a boys' training ship. There were several appeals to help preserve Implacable over the years, especially in the 1920s. Funds were raised and she underwent several restorations, which continued in the 1930s. In conjunction with , she served as an accommodation ship, a training ship, a holiday ship and a coal hulk, and the two ships were renamed Foudroyant in 1943.
Fate
Unlike the unfortunate WellesleyHMS Wellesley (1815)
HMS Wellesley was a 74-gun third rate, named for the Duke of Wellington, and launched in 1815. She captured Karachi for the British, and participated in the First Opium War, which resulted in Britain gaining control of Hong Kong...
, Implacable survived the Second World War. Still, the Admiralty scuttled her by an explosive charge on 2 December 1949. A fireboat towed her to a spot east of the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
and she sank into Saint Catherine's Deep, about five miles from Ventnor
Ventnor
Ventnor is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies underneath St Boniface Down , and is built on steep slopes and cliffs leading down to the sea...
. A French man-of-war was in attendance to render honours. Implacable was by then the second oldest ship of the Navy, after 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....
, and there were heavy protests against her disposal, but given the post-War austerity, the British decided the cost of her upkeep was too much. In 1947 they had offered her to the French, who too declined to spend the money to turn her into a museum. Still, her figurehead and stern galleries were saved and are on display in the National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
at Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
, while her capstan is on display at the maritime museum at Rochefort.
External links
- Film footage of HMS Implacable exploding and sinking
- HMS Implacable, or the sad end of a seventy-four (in French)
- Duguay Trouin (HMS Implacable) Home Page on Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/I/02386.html