ACHILLE French ship-of-the-line 1804

[aukepalmhof]

Do not get confused with the HMS ACHILLE, the vessel depicted on the stamp is the French warship L’ACHILLE.

Built by Chantier L’Crucy, Rochefort after plans made by Jacques-Noël Sané for the French Navy.
05 November 1802 keel laid down
Launched as the L’ACHILLE one of the Téméraire class.
Displacement 1,630 tons, dim. 55.87 x 14.29 x 7.00m. (draught).
Armament 28 – 36pdr., 30 – 24pdr., 16 – 8pdr., 4 – 36pdr. carronades.
Crew 693.
18 November 1804 commissioned. Building cost 64.000 Fr.

May 1805: Sails from Rochefort together with the L’ALGESIRAS for the fleet of Admiral Villeneuve in the Caribbean.
04 June 1805: Arrived at Fort de France.
22 June 1805: Took part in the Battle of Cape Finisterre under command of Captain Louis Gabriel Deniéport, in which she didn't lose a single man.
Arrived at Vigo, Spain after the battle with 200 sick men on board .

Took part in the Battle of Trafalgar under command of Captain Louis Gabriel Deniéport. At first she was in the vanguard of the fleet and at 6 p.m. sighted the first British vessels.

The next day, at the Battle of Trafalgar the French-Spanish fleet during a risky manoeuvre altered course in opposite direction to form a line of battle and the L’ACHILLE came in the rear of the line.

During this manoeuvre the British fleet took advantage and broke the line in two places, and when the battle commenced she joined AIGLE, NEPTUNE and FOUGUEUX in engaging the second ship of the British lee column HMS BELLEISLE during a light breeze.
The BELLEISLE was soon dismasted unable to manoeuvre and largely unable to fight as sails and rigging blinded her batteries, she kept her flag flying until other British ships behind her in the column came to her rescue.

L’ACHILLE is trying, in the first part of the afternoon to overcome the gap in the line between her and other warships of the fleet, after the Spanish SAN ILDEFONSO surrendered to HMS DEFENCE.

She became trapped between HMS DEFIANCE and DREADNOUGHT both three-decker vessels. The broadsides fired from both vessels at the L’ACHILLE brought down her topmasts and rigging. Only her lower masts remained standing.
Around 1 p.m. ensign Arley was killed, followed at 1.30 p.m. by her first officer Commander Montalembert second in command on board the L’ACHILLE.
At 2.30 p.m. Captain Deniéport falls mortally wounded from a burst of shrapnel in his thigh. He refused to leave his station and he died shortly afterwards.
With most officers wounded or killed the command was taken over by ensign Jouan, but he is killed about 15 minutes later and is replaced by ensign Cauchard.

The L’ACHILLE's hull was badly holed and she was slowly sinking, but still managed to fire and the DREADNOUGHT who lost her main and fore-masts.
At 4.00 p.m. HMS PRINCE joined the battle and after 15 minutes fire broke out in the masthead of the fore-mast, which was already undermined by British shells, the burning masts collapsed along the midship and set fire to the boats, engulfing the ship in flames.
The hull of the L’ACHILLE was so riddled with shots that the hull parts separating the gun ports complete were gone.

The fires raged on, the crew abandoned the vessel by jumping overboard and clinging to the floating debris.
When the British knowing that her fate was sealed they ceased firing and put their boats in the water to rescue as many of the French crew as possible. This proved to be very hazardous as the L’ACHILLE loaded guns were triggered by the intense heat raging below decks.
They saved 158 men while 480 men died.
At 5.30 p.m. with her flag still flying the fires reached her magazine whereupon she exploded and foundered quickly.

An officer on board the DEFENCE wrote:

"It was a sight the most awful and grand that can be conceived. In a moment the hull burst into a cloud of smoke and fire. A column of vivid flame shot up to an enormous height in the atmosphere and terminated by expanding into an immense globe, representing for a few seconds, a prodigious tree in flames, specked with many dark spots, which the pieces of timber and bodies of men occasioned while they were suspended in the clouds."

Bermuda 2005 70c sg?, scott?.
Bahamas 2005 80c sg?, scott? (she is the warship on the right of the stamp, partly dismasted.)
Great Britain 2005 42p sg 2576, scott?
Solomon Islands 2005 $10 sg 1160 viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17551

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Achille_(1803) and various other web-sites.