French ship Le Foudroyant (1751)
Capture of the Foudroyant by the British Monmouth, 28 February 1758. Painting by Francis Swaine, 1725-1782.
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| History | |
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.svg){kind=small} France
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| Name: | Foudroyant |
| Builder: | Toulon shipyard |
| Laid down: | August 1748 |
| Launched: | 18 December 1750 |
| Commissioned: | April 1751 |
| Captured: | 28 February 1758, by the Royal Navy |
| Notes: |
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 Great Britain
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| Name: | HMS Foudroyant |
| Acquired: |
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| Commissioned: | June 1759 |
| Fate: | Broken up by 26 September 1787 |
| Notes: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | 80-gun Third Rate ship of the line |
| Tons burthen: | 2061 57⁄94(bm) |
| Length: | 180 ft 5 in (54.99 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam: | 50 ft 3 in (15.32 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 23 ft (7.0 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Full rigged ship |
| Armament: |
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The Foudroyant was an 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was later captured and served in the Royal Navy as the Third Rate HMS Foudroyant.
Foudroyant was built at Toulon to a design by François Coulomb, and was launched on 18 December 1750. She was present at the Battle of Minorca in 1756, where she engaged the British flagship HMS Ramillies. She then formed part of a squadron under Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran, during which time she was captured during the Battle of Cartagena off Cartagena, Spain on 28 February 1758 by Monmouth, Hampton Court and Swiftsure. The Monmouth's Captain Gardiner was wounded early in the fight, and died, and his two lieutenants commanded the ship for most of the battle. The captain of the Foudroyant insisted upon handing his sword to the lieutenants, including Lt Hammick, who commanded the main gun-deck. After the battle the ship's crew composed a poem about the action which included the lines "Gallant Hammick aimed his guns with care, not one random shot he fired in the air".
She was brought into Portsmouth and surveyed there in September 1758 for £163.10.2d. The Admiralty approved her purchase on 7 November that year, and she was duly bought on 6 December for the sum of £16,759.19.11d. She was officially named Foudroyant and entered onto the navy lists on 13 December 1758. She underwent a refit at Portsmouth between February and August 1759 for the sum of £14,218.9.2d to fit her for navy service.
She was commissioned in June 1759 under the command of Captain Richard Tyrell, serving as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Hardy between June and October 1759. She spent August sailing with Admiral Edward Hawke's fleet. Foudroyant underwent another refit at Portsmouth in the spring of 1760, commissioning later that year under Captain Robert Duff. She sailed to the Leeward Islands in April 1760, but had returned to Britain by Autumn 1761 to undergo another refit. She took part in the operations off Martinique in early 1762, before coming under the command of Captain Molyneaux Shuldham later that year. She served for a short period as the flagship of Admiral George Rodney, before being paid off in 1763. She underwent several surveys, and a large repair between February 1772 and January 1774, after which she was fitted to serve as the Plymouth guardship in April 1775. She recommissioned again in August that year, under the command of Captain John Jervis, and was stationed at Plymouth until early 1777.
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