HMS Achille (1798)

HMS "Achille" [Lavery (p185) lists her as "Achilles".] was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by Cleverley Bros., a private shipyard at Gravesend, and launched on 16 April 1798. Her design was based on the lines of the captured French ship HMS|Pompée|1793|2. She was the fourth Royal Navy ship to be named after the Greek hero Achilles in the French style.

"Achille" at Trafalgar

On 21 October 1805, under the command of Captain Richard King, "Achille" was in Admiral Collingwood's column at the Battle of Trafalgar, seventh in the line, between "Bellerophon" and "Polyphemus"Fact|date=February 2007. "Achille" opened fire on the rear of the French and Spanish fleet at 12.15, engaging the "Montanes", 74, for fifteen minutes, before sailing on to meet the "Argontauta", 80, which had already been battling with other British ships. After hours of fierce fighting, "Argonauta" fell silent and closed her gunports, but before "Achille" could accept her surrender, her French namesake "Achille", 74, moved in to engage the British ship. After exchanging broadsides, the French ship sailed on and was replaced on the starboard side by the "Berwick", 74, and for the next hour and a quarter she lay close alongside "Achille", receiving a pounding that eventually forced her to surrender with over 250 casualties - almost half her crew. "Achille" took possession, and transferred some of her crew back on board as prisoners. "Achille" suffered 13 killed and 59 wounded in the battle, in stark comparison to the heavy losses she inflicted on her French and Spanish adversaries.

She continued in active service until 1815, when she was decommissioned at Chatham, and laid up at Sheerness. She survived in this state until 1865, when she was sold for £3,600 to be broken up.

Notes

References

*Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.

ee also

*HMS "Achilles"