Built as a 2nd Rate ship-of-the-line by Jacques_Noël at Toulon for the French Navy in 1789.
Launched under the name LE TONNANT (thundering).
Tonnage?, dim. 182.6 x 47 x 23.6ft.
Armament 30 – 36pdrs, 32 – 24pdrs, 18 – 12pdrs, 6 –36 carronades.
Crew?
She was launched in the first year of the French Republic, and after completing joined the French Mediterranean fleet of Vice Admiral Comte Martin.
14 March 1795 took part in the action against Vice Admiral Williams Hotman’s British fleet off Genoa.
1798 In Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaign was she the flagship of Commodore Aristide Aubert du Petit-Thouars during the Battle of the Nile in Aboukir Bay on 01 August 1798.
In a position directly astern of the flagship L’ORIENT was she during the battle completely dismasted by enemy fire, and after a protracted struggle, exemplified by her commander Petit-Thouars, who despite the loss of both arms and a leg, refused to give up command, until he collapsed from blood loss.
She was captured by the Royal Navy, and with a prize crew on board was brought to Gibraltar, taken in the Royal Navy as HMS TONNANT a 3rd Rate.
Tonnage 2.281 ton (bm), dim. 59.2 x 15.8 x 7.1m
Armament: On lower deck 32 – 32 pdr., upper deck 32 – 18 pdr., on quarter deck 2 – 18 pdr plus 14 – 32pdr. carronades, forecastle 4 – 32pdr. Carronades.
Crew 700.
January 1799 under command of Capt. Loftus Otway Bland, relieved by Capt. R.L. Fitzgerald in February 1799, at that time still at Gibraltar.
1800 In ordinary at Plymouth, England. At the end of 1800 she was waiting for docking and repair.
1803 Under command of Capt. Sir Edward Pellew, and on 07 January 1804 he reported to the Admiralty on-growing French activity at Ferrol and Corunna in supposedly neutral Spain.
1804 Under command of Capt. W.H.Jervis in the English Channel Fleet. Capt Jervis was drowned off Brest when going in his gig from TONNANT to the SAN JOSEPH on 26 January 1805.
He had just arrived from Rochfort and was anxious to impart his intelligence to the commander-in-chief.
The Coxswain supported him until his strength was exhausted and they both went under but the coxswain, being a good swimmer floated until he was picked up. All the rest of the boat’s crew was lost.
Captain Patrick Campbell, who had recently been wrecked in the DORIS and was with him in the boat, saved himself by holding on to an oar.
1805 Under command of Capt. Charles Tyler off Cadiz.
In March 1805 she together with four other ships were detached from the blockade of Brittany and formed into a new squadron under Vice Admiral Collingwood.
During the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 was she still part of Admiral Collingwood’s column being fourth in line. When she broke through the line of the combined French and Spanish fleet, the TONNANT discharged a full broadside into the stern of the Spanish MONARCA (74 guns) doing dreadful damage. MONARCA dropped away and struck her colours but TONNANT was unable to take possession, and MONARCA rehoisted her flag, for which she paid dearly when engaged by HMS BELLEROPHON.
TONNANT headed then for the French ALGÉSIRAS (74 guns) the flagship of Rear Admiral Magon, and engaged her, both vessels collided and at point-blank range a battle was fought. A boarding party of the ALGÉSIRAS tried to board the TONNANT, but were killed by heavy fire except one who was taken prisoner. Magon was also killed during this action.
At around 02 pm Capt Tyler was severely wounded, command was taken over by Lieutenant John Bedford.
The deck crew of the TONNANT suffered severely from the sharpshooters stationed in the masts of the ALGÉSIRAS. After the masts were shot down and the French crewmen in the mast were thrown overboard with the masts, the TONNANT get the upper hand in the battle.
At 02.15 the ALGÉSIRAS struck her colours and a boarding party of the TONNANT under command of Lieutenant Charles Bennett with Lieutenant Arthur Bell of the marines with 50 men took possession of her.
Lieutenant Benjamin Clement was sent in the jolly boat, the only remaining boat, with two men to take possession of the SAN JUAN, which had struck her colours, but the jolly boat was swamped before they got half-way and the Lieutenant, who could not swim had to be rescued by one of the seamen who swam back to the TONNANT for a rope.
During the battle 26 crewmembers of the TONNANT were killed and 50 men wounded.
1806 Under command of Captain Thomas Browne, and was she it flagship of Rear Admiral Eliab Harvey in the Channel Fleet.
1807 Under command of Capt R.T. Hancock, off Rochefort as flagship of Admiral M. Decourcy.
1808 Off the coast of Spain.
09 October 1811 under command of Captain Sir John Gore, convoying troops to Lisbon, then cruising under the orders of Sir Thomas Williams.
Off Brest and L’Orient in the autumn, superintending the blockade of those ports.
While she was serving with the squadron in the Basque Roads, Captain Gore was hit on the head and badly injured by a tackle falling from the maintop.
At that time the TONNANT was in a bad state and needed repair, she was put out of commission at Portsmouth in August 1812.
1814 Under repair at Chatham.
1814 Under command of Captain Wainright, was she flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, with Captain of the Fleet Rear Admiral Edward Codrington.
12 August 1814 during the attack on Baltimore, part of the crew of the TONNANT were used on shore by the army and 7 men were wounded.
Captain Wainright arrived at the Admiralty on 27 September 1814 with an account of the capture and destruction of Washington, on 24 August by the army under Major General Ross.
April 1815 under command of Captain Charles Kerr in North America.
Following the peace with America, Sir Alex Cochrane sailed for Bermuda in TONNANT and in the spring of 1815 she returned to England.
Between 1816 and 1817 under command of Captain John Tailor who was appointed on her on November 1815 and flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowel, on the Cork Station.
March 1821 broken up.
Cayman Islands 2005 20c sg?, scott? (she is the vessel in the foreground.)
Source: mostly copied from http://www.rootsweb.com/~pasulliv/resou ... istide.htm http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/T.HTM http://college.hmco.com/history/readers ... onnant.htm
The Sail and Steam Navy List by Lyon and Winfield. http://www.treeforall.org.uk/trafalgar/ ... s/Tonnant/ http://www.answers.com/topic/battle-of-cape-finisterre The lost Ships of the Royal Navy 1793-1900 by