French Ship of the Line (74) Fougueux

[Cpt Kangaroo]

French Ship of the Line (74) Fougueux

France
Class: Téméraire class
74-gun French ship of the line
(18 produced in this variant)
Téméraire class Ships URL
http://www.sailsofglory.org/showthread.php?1493-Téméraire-class-ships-of-the-line
Armament: 28 × 36-pounder long guns, 30 × 18-pounder long guns, 16 × 8-pounder long guns, 4 × 36-pdr carronades
Compliment: 700
Launched: 19 September 1785
Length: 55.87 metres (183.3 ft)
Weight or Tonnage: 2,966 tonnes
, 5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Draft: 7.26 metres (23.8 ft)

Notable Captains:
Louis Alexis Baudoin

Theatres of War:
1796 took part in the Expédition d'Irlande
under Esprit-Tranquille Maistral.
1805 took part in the Battle of Trafalgar, firing the first shot of the battle upon HMS Royal Sovereign.



FATE: Sunk after the Battle of Trafalgar, October 1805

[Cpt Kangaroo]

NARATIVE:

Fougueux was a Téméraire class 74-gun French ship of the line built at Lorientfrom 1784 to 1785 by engineer Segondat.

In 1796, she took part in the Expédition d'Irlande under Esprit-Tranquille Maistral.
She took part in the Battle of Trafalgar, firing the first shot of the battle uponHMS Royal Sovereign. She later attempted to come to the aid of theRedoutable by engaging HMS Temeraire. After badly damaging the Fougueuxwith broadsides, Temeraire's first-lieutenant, Thomas Fortescue Kennedy, led a boarding party onto Fougueux, entering the French ship via her main deck ports and chains. The French tried to defend the decks port by port, but were steadily overwhelmed. Fougueux's captain, Louis Alexis Baudoin, had suffered a fatal wound earlier in the fighting, leaving Commander François Bazin in charge. On learning that nearly all of the officers were dead or wounded and that most of the guns were out of action, Bazin surrendered the ship to Kennedy.
According the report of Captain Lucas of the Redoutable,
“ the Fougueux, which, having fought against several of the enemy's ships, had been left by them without having lowered her flag. She was dismasted and unrigged, and floating an unmanageable hulk. On fouling the group of ships she was boarded by the Temeraire. The Fougueux was, however, beyond making serious resistance. Her brave captain, Baudouin, though, even then made an effort, but in vain. He was killed at the outset, and his second in command was wounded at the same moment; whereupon some men of theTemeraire sprang on board and took possession. ”
On the day after the battle a severe storm battered the surviving ships.Fougueux was driven ashore near Torre Bermeja on the coast of Spain and was wrecked. Only 25 men aboard, British prize crew and French prisoners, survived.

[Comte de Brueys]

A shinig example of French fighting spirit. :salute: