French ship America (1788)
Scale model of Achille, sister ship of French ship America (1788), 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: | America |
| Namesake: | America |
| Builder: | Brest |
| Laid down: | 1787 |
| Launched: | 21 May 1788 |
| Commissioned: | 1789 |
| Captured: | 1 June 1794 |
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | Impétueux |
| Acquired: | 1 June 1794 |
| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Broken up in 1813 |
| 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 |
America was a Téméraire-class ship of the line 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. The Royal Navy captured her in 1794 at the Battle of the Glorious First of June. She then served with the British under the name HMS Impetueux until she was broken up in 1813. She became the prototype for the Royal Navy America-class ship of the line.
The vessel was captured by HMS Leviathan at the Battle of the Glorious First of June. In 1795 the Admiralty renamed her HMS Impétueux as there was already a ship named America in the British navy.
On 5 October 1796, Captain John Willet Payne was given command. After a refit at Portsmouth, she sailed for Spithead on 11 October, where her refit continued until she sailed on English Channel duty on 28 October, returning to Spithead on 1 January 1797. In that year Payne resigned his commission through ill-health and Captain Sampson Edwards assumed command until 1799, when Captain Sir Edward Pellew took over on 1 March 1799.
In March 1799, while under Pellew's command, some of the crew of Impetueux fomented a mutiny. The Marine Guard remained loyal, which enabled Pellew to suppress the mutiny. Three were hanged and six were flogged around the fleet before being transferred to other ships.
On 4 June 1800, a squadron under Captain Edward Pellew in Impetueux, the 32-gun frigate Thames, Captain William Lukin, the 16-gun ship sloop Cynthia and some small-craft, attacked the south-west end of Quiberon and silenced the forts. Troops under Major Ramsey then landed and destroyed the forts. The attack resulted in the British taking several vessels and scuttling others. The only casualties were in Cynthia, which lost two men killed and one wounded.
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Wikipedia