 Scale model on display at the Musée de la Marine in Paris |
|
| Career (France) |  |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | Achilles |
| Builder: | Rochefort |
| Laid down: | 1803 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 22 October 1805 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Seventy-four Téméraire class ship of the line |
| Displacement: | 1 630 tonnes |
| Length: | 52 m |
| Beam: | 14 m |
| Draught: | 7 m |
| Complement: | 3 officers + 690 men |
| Armament: |
74 guns:
|
The Achille was a 74-gun French ship of the line built at Rochefort in 1803 by Jacques-Noël Sané. The carronade was a short Smoothbore, Cast iron Cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an Ironworks First 74-gun designs The classic 74-gun ship was invented by the French as they rebuilt their navy during the early years of the reign of Louis XV. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. A ship-of-the-line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th century through the mid-19th century to take part in the the naval tactic known as the Line of battle 1803 ( MDCCCIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Jacques-Noël Sané ( 18 February 1740 - 22 August 1831) was a French naval engineer one of the most successful shipbuilders of the Age
Under the command of Louis Gabriel Deniéport, she was the first Franco-Spanish ship to sight the English fleet the day before the Battle of Trafalgar. The Battle of Trafalgar ( 21 October 1805) was a historic sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the At the start of the battle she joined Aigle, Neptune and Fougueux in engaging the second ship in the British lee column, HMS Belleisle. ships of the French Navy have born the name Aigle ("eagle" honouring the bird of prey as well as the symbol of the First French Empire: A number of ships of the French Navy have borne the name Neptune: ''Neptune'' (1610-1615 a privateer ''Neptune'' Hanzo missed identifierpdr]](16 kg)*30x24pdr(11kg*16x8pdr(36kg*4x36pdr(16kg Carronades shiparmourTimber --> Belleisle was soon completely dismasted, unable to manoeuvre and largely unable to fight, as her sails blinded her batteries, but kept flying her flag for 45 minutes until the other British ships behind her in the column came to her rescue.
Achille was then battered by broadsides from many ships. Whilst engaging her final opponent HMS Prince, the fore top of the Achille caught fire, and the next broadside against her brought her blazing main mast down, engulfing the ship in flames. Life She saw relatively little action during her career and seems to have been a relatively poor sailer—she sailed according to one observing captain 'like a haystack The mast of a sailing ship is a tall vertical or near vertical Spar, or arrangement of Spars which supports the Sails Large ships have several masts Knowing that her opponent's fate was sealed, Richard Grindall, the Prince 's captain, ceased firing and wore round to clear the Achille before placing boats in the water to rescue the French seamen. Vice Admiral Sir Richard Grindall KCB ( 1750 - 23 May 1820) was an officer in the British Royal Navy whose distinguished This proved hazardous as the Achille's abandoned but loaded guns were set off by the intense heat now raging below decks.
The fires eventually reached her magazine and she blew up spectacularly at 5. 45pm, marking the end of the battle. An officer serving in the Defence wrote:
"It was a sight the most awful and grand that can be conceived. In a moment the hull burst into a cloud of smoke and fire. A column of vivid flame shot up to an enormous height in the atmosphere and terminated by expanding into an immense globe, representing for a few seconds, a prodigious tree in flames, specked with many dark spots, which the pieces of timber and bodies of men occasioned while they were suspended in the clouds. "
Only some 150 French sailors could be rescued by the surrounding British ships.
Achille in art
She figures on The Battle of Trafalgar by Turner. The Battle of Trafalgar is an oil-on-canvas Painting, created by J
A fine 1/33 scale model is on display in Paris at the Musée de la Marine. The Musée national de la Marine (National Navy Museum is a Maritime museum located in the Palais de Chaillot, Trocadéro, in the XVIe arrondissement
