HERCULE HMS 1798

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San Tome et Principe issued in 2021 two miniature sheets with paintings of sailing vessels. The top left stamps of the Db 35.00 stamp shows us the British HMS HERCULE (not the HERCULES as given on the stamp) from a detail of a painting made by the French artist Louis Philippe Crépin (1722 – 1851), which shows the “action of 18 June 1803” between the French and British Navy

Built as a third-rate ship-of-the-line by the Lorient shipyard for the French Navy.
14 August 1793 ordered.
June 1794 laid down.
05 December 1797 launched as the L’HERCULE.
General characteristics: Class and type: Téméraire-class ship of the line. Tonnage: 1876 bm. Displacement: 2,966 tonnes, 5,260 tonnes fully loaded. 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: 74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns, Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder long guns, Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pdr carronades. Armour: Timber.
March 1798 completed.

21 April 1798 on her maiden voyage under command of Capt. L’Héritier to join the French fleet at Brest, she was sighted by three ships of the Royal Navy, the HMS MARS caught up with her in Passage du Raz that night, and in little more as 75 minutes forced the L’Hercule to surrender with 290 dead and wounded. The HMS MARS had 30 killed including her Captain, and 60 wounded.
26 April 1798 L’HERCULE arrived at Plymouth for fitting out for the Royal Navy.
04 August 1801 under the command of Capt. William Luke. Renamed HERCULE.
February 1802 commissioned under command of Capt Soloman Ferris.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hercule_(1798)

The action of 28 June 1803 marked the opening shots of the Blockade of Saint-Domingue after the collapse of the Treaty of Amiens and the outbreak of the War of the Third Coalition in May 1803. A French heavy frigate and a corvette, both partially armed en flûte and unaware of the recently begun war, met three British 74-gun ships of the line. The corvette was overhauled and captured, but the frigate, sailing close to shore, managed to out-manoeuver her opponent and deliver a devastating raking broadside on HERCULE that put her out of action.
The feat of a frigate managing to escape a ship of the line yielded high praise for Willaumez, who had commanded the frigate. A large painting by Louis-Philippe Crépin was commissioned in 1819 to commemorate the event.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_28_June_1803
1806 HERCULE was the flagship of Vice Admiral Sir John Duckworth, during the attack on Curacoa.
Later was she flagship of Rear Admiral James Daeres at Jamaica.
November 1806 fitted out at Chatham where her poop was removed
June 1807 recommissioned, under command of Captain John Colvill.
August 1807 took part in the Copenhagen expedition.
04 February 1808 sailed for Portugal.
October 1808 laid up.
Fate: Broken up in December 1810 in Portsmouth.

The painting is in Collection Musée national de la Marine, France.

Source:British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817 by Rif Winfield
St Tome et Principe 2021 Db35.00 sg?, Scott?