DEFIANCE HMS 1794 and L'AIGLE 1800

[aukepalmhof]

Built as a 3rd Rate by John Randall & Brent, Rotherhithe on the River Thames for the Royal Navy.
11 July 1780 ordered.
April 1782 keel laid down.
10 December 1783 launched under the name HMS DEFIANCE one of the Elizabeth class of which eight were built. She was the 10th vessel under that name in the Royal Navy. The class was designed by Sir John Williams.
Tonnage 1.612 ton (bm), dim. 168.6 x 46.10 x 19.9ft.
Armament 28 – 32 pdr. on lower deck, 28 – 18pdr. upper deck, 14 – 9pdr. quarter deck, 4 – 9pdr forecastle deck.
Crew 550.

1794 After commissioned in the Channel Fleet under command of Capt. G.Keppel.
She was involved in three separate mutinies, the first in 1794 when five men of her crew were hanged.
1797 During the Spithead mutinies, and in 1798 when twenty members of the United Irishmen in her crew were hanged.
1795 Under command of Capt. Sir George Horne.
March 1796 under command of Capt. T.Jones.
March 1799 under command of Capt. T.R. Shivers.
03 August 1800 she received orders to sail together with two ships-of-the-line and a frigate to proceed to the Downs.
October 1800 was she with the flying squadron off the Black Rocks.
29 December 1800 the merchantman AUTOMATIA armed with 32 guns sailed from Plymouth bound for Calcutta, on the 30 December she was dismasted in a violent squall off the Lizard, she was towed back to Plymouth by DEFIANCE.
21 March 1801 under command of Capt. Richard Retalick still in the Channel Fleet.
02 April 1801 when she was in Rear-Admiral Nelson’s squadron she took part in the bombardment of Copenhagen. Due to the grounding of BELLONA and RUSSEL and AGAMEMNON was forced to anchor, the guns on Crown Island would have been silenced, the DEFIANCE came under heavy gunfire of the ford and she got 24 men killed and 51 wounded.

To counter preparations for an invasion to England were made along the French coast, DEFIANCE and five other ships-of-the-line were recalled from the Baltic in June 1801 and to rejoin the Channel Fleet off Brest.
1803 Under repair at Portsmouth.
1805 Under command of Capt. Philip Durham in the Channel Fleet.
22 July 1805 in Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Calder squadron, the squadron attacked the combined Franco-Spanish squadron of 20 sails of the line off Finisterre (43 54N 11 38W) under command of Vice-Admiral Pierre Villeneuve. The action was fought for more than four hours in thick fog, and sometimes they barely could see the ship ahead and astern.
Two Spanish ships were captured the ST RAFAEL (84 guns) and FIRME (74 guns), both captured ships were taken later in the Royal Navy. The DEFIANCE got 1 man killed and 7 wounded.

23 September 1805 she joined Lord Nelson fleet.
Capt Durham claimed that she was the fastest ship 74-gun ship, but during the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October was she placed at the rear of Admiral Collingwood’s line.
And the battle was well advanced before she fired her first guns, first she attacked the Spanish PRINCIPE DE ASTURIAS (112 guns) and Gravina’s flagship together with the REVENGE AND PRINCE, then she engaged the already badly damaged French L’AIGLE. After silencing her, DEFIANCE drifted away, and the Master-Mate James Sprat offered to lead a boarding party that would have to swim across because all the boats had been destroyed.
Armed only with a cutlass between his teeth and a battle-axe in his belt, Spratt climbed the rudder chain, entered through the stern ports, and was engaged in cutting down the French ensign on the stern before the crew of the L’AIGLE realized who he was, in the meantime the DEFIANCE had lashed herself alongside the L’AIGLE.
Attacked by the French crew he was severe wounded on one of his legs, but he managed to crawl back on board the DEFIANCE.
A boarding party under command of Lieutenant Thomas Simons boarded her and after a short fight they gained possession of the poop and quarter-deck, they hoisted the British colours, but they were soon driven back to their own ship by musket fire from the forecastle, waist and tops, which mortally wounded Lieutenant Simons. The DEFIANCE cut her lashings and sheered off. Twenty minutes firing was required before L’AIGLE surrendered.
After putting a prize crew on board, the L’AIGLE, but during the storm that followed on 22 October, the L’AIGLE got separated from the DEFIANCE, and the French crew regained control of the vessel and managed to take her to Cadiz bay, but during the night she stranded and was wrecked on the Bar off Puerto Santa Maria on 25 October 1805.
Later DEFIANCE captured the SAN JUAN NEPOMUCENO (74 guns)
The casualties on board the DEFIANCE were 17 men killed and 53 wounded.

1806 She sailed to the Bay of Biscay and landed Lieutenant General Arthur Wellesley, the later Duke of Wellington, at La Corunna, Spain at the start of the Peninsular Campaign.
03 June 1807 command taken over by Capt. Henry Hotham, she was then again a unit of the Channel Fleet.
1808 Got a refit in Plymouth.
23 February 1809 in the squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Stopford, when they chased three enemy frigates into Sable d’Olonne where they took shelter under shore batteries.
DEFIANCE with her small draught was able to anchor within half a mile of them, closer than CAESAR or DONEGAL. Before the ebbing tide made her get under sail her fire forced two of the enemy ships to cut and run on shore.
The DEFIANCE lost two men and got 25 men wounded, while her masts were damaged.

During the summer of 1809 she operated off the north coast of Spain. After Marshal Ney’s defeat by Spanish forces at the Payo Bridge, the French fell back on Corunna on 13 June and immediately began to evacuate Corunna and Ferrol.

26 June Capt. Hotham sent HMS AMAZON into Ferrol and there Capt. Parker found that the castle was still in enemy hands and they were threatening to fire on any British ship.
The DEFIANCE joined the AMAZON and armed seamen and mariners were landed from both ships. They entered the castle without opposition and the governor was arrested in the name of King Ferdinand and sent on board the DEFIANCE.
DEFIANCE entered Corunna on the 28th and found that the place had already declared for King Ferdinand. Two days later General Garrera arrived with 11.000 men of the Spanish army.

1811 She was under command of Capt. Richard Raggett on the River Scheldt off Vlissingen (Flushing).
1812 Off Texel the Dutch navy base there.
December 1813 hulked at Chatham and used as prison ship.
May 1817 broken up at Chatham.

The other ship on the stamp is the French 2nd Rate L’AIGLE, she was built by Rolland at Rochefort, France for the French Navy in 1800.
Dimensions 172 x 44 x 22ft.
Armament: 28 – 36pdr., 30 – 18pdr., 16 – 8pdr., and 4 – 36pdr carronades.

1805 She sailed to the West Indies under command of Captain Pierre-Paul Gourrege together with the ALGÉSIRAS, where she joined the French fleet under command of Vice-Admiral Villeneuve.
During the Battle of Trafalgar still under command of Capt. Courrege she first attacked the HMS BELLEISLE.
Then HMS TONNANT a former French prize engaged her. She came under heavy fire of the TONNANT. When the two ships disengaged AIGLE was an easy conquest for the DEFIANCE, which arrived fresh in the battle.
AIGLE struck her colours and a prize crew from the DEFIANCE boarded her.
She got 270 casualties during the battle.

On the 22nd during a heavy storm she was separated from her capturer and the French crew took again possession of her.
They managed to sail her to Cadiz, she drifted in Cadiz Bay at night, stranded and was wrecked on the bar off Puerto Santa Maria.

Nauru 2005 25c sg?, scott? (she is the vessel on the right of the stamp.)

Source: Mostly copied from http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/D1.HTM. The lost Ships of the Royal Navy 1793-1900 by Gosset. The Sail and Steam Navy List 1815-1889 by Lyon and Winfield. Some other web-sides.