User:Euryalus/sandbox

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Career (France)

Name:	Fougueux
Builder:	Segondat
Laid down:	1784
In service:	1785 - 1805
Fate:	Wrecked, 23 October 1805
General characteristics
Complement:	682 men
Armament:	74 guns
Honours and awards:	Participated in: Battle of Trafalgar

Fougueux ("High-spirited") was a 74-gun ship of the line in the French Navy. She saw service from 1785 to 1805 and played a notable role in the Battle of Trafalgar under Captain Louis-Alexis Baudouin.

1 Early history
2 Trafalgar
3 War of 1812
4 Decommissioning
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early history

Fougueux was designed by French engineer Segondat, and laid down in L'Orient in 1785.

[edit] Trafalgar

The Euryalus was built at Bucklers Hard and launched in 1803. In 1805, captained by Henry Blackwood, she led a squadron of four other frigates in watching Cádiz to report the movements of the combined French and Spanish fleets anchored there.^[1] The combined fleet sailed from Cádiz on 20 October and was shadowed through the night by the Euryalus and others which reported its position to the Royal Navy fleet on the horizon.

With battle imminent the following morning, Captain Blackwood proposed that Admiral Horatio Nelson transfer from the HMS Victory to the faster Euryalus, the better to observe and control the engagement. This offer was declined and - being too small to play a major role - the Euryalus stood off until the late afternoon when she took the badly damaged HMS Royal Sovereign in tow and turned her to engage the French ship Formidable.

Following the death of Admiral Nelson, Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood transferred his flag from the Royal Sovereign to the Euryalus which became for the next ten days the flagship of the remaining Royal Navy fleet.

After the battle the Euryalus took on survivors from the French battleship Achille, as well as the captured French Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve. Blackwood also received the surrender of the Spanish ship Santa Ana, after two raking broadsides to the stern by the Royal Sovereign and Belleisle had caused her to strike her colours.

The Royal Sovereign was again taken in tow but the two ships collided during a sudden squall, badly damaging the frigate's masts and rigging. Once repairs were completed, the Euryalus was sent into Cádiz Harbour to allow Blackwood to negotiate an exchange of prisoners and the repatriation of French and Spanish wounded.

On October 31, the Euryalus set sail for England with Admiral Villeneuve as a prisoner.

[edit] War of 1812

After serving in minor roles in a number of theatres, the Euryalus was in the Mediterranean when Captain (later Admiral) Charles Napier took command. She took part in successful commerce raiding and the blockade of Toulon. On 21 April in company with Undaunted she entered the harbour and learned of the defeat of Napoleon; Undaunted was detailed to transport him to Elba. Napier took Euryalus across the Atlantic for service in the War of 1812, including the expedition up the Potomac (August-September 1814) and the bombardment of Fort McHenry. During Napoleon's 'Hundred Days' Euryalus was engaged in landing troops at the mouth of the River Scheldt.

[edit] Decommissioning

The Euryalus was decommissioned in 1825 and converted into a prison hulk at Chatham. In 1847 she was moved to Gibraltar, and was sold for breaking up in 1860.