French ship Achille (1803)
Scale model on display at the Musée de la Marine in Paris
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| History | |
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 France
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| Name: | Achille |
| Namesake: | Achilles |
| Builder: | Rochefort |
| Laid down: | 1803 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 22 October 1805 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Téméraire-class ship of the line |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied) |
| Beam: | 14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in) |
| Draught: | 7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied) |
| Propulsion: | Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: | Timber |
Achille was a Téméraire class 74-gun French ship of the line built at Rochefort in 1803 after plans by Jacques-Noël Sané.
Under the command of Captain Louis Gabriel Deniéport, she sailed at the vanguard of the French Fleet on 20 October 1805, just before the Battle of Trafalgar, and she was the first Franco-Spanish ship to sight the English fleet, around 6 p.m.
The next day, at the Battle of Trafalgar, the Franco-Spanish fleet veered to form a line of battle, and Achille found herself at the rear of the line. At the start of the battle she joined Aigle, Neptune and Fougueux, in engaging the second ship in the British lee column, HMS Belleisle. 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.
As the San Ildefonso surrendered to HMS Defence, Deniéport took advantage of a light wind to attempt to fill the gap in the line. She then found herself trapped between HMS Defiance and HMS Dreadnought, losing all of her rigging save for her lower masts.
At 1.00 p.m, Ensign Arley was killed, followed around 1.30 by the first officer, Commander Montalembert. Captain Deniéport had his leg partly shot off at 2.30, and was killed shortly after refusing to leave his station. With most officers incapacitated, command went to Ensign Jouan, who was killed after 15 minutes. He was replaced by Ensign Cauchard.
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Wikipedia