French ship Tigre (1793)

Tigre was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. Later it was captured by the British and, as HMS Tigre, operated as part of the Royal Navy throughout the Napoleonic Wars.

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Tigre.
Tigre in 1795
History
France
Name: Tigre
Namesake: Tiger
Builder: Brest
Laid down: 1790
Launched: 8 May 1793
Captured: 22 June 1795
Great Britain
Name: Tigre
Acquired: 22 June 1795 by capture
Honours and
awards:		 Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt"[1]
Fate: Broken up in June 1817.
General characteristics
Class and type: Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement:
  • 2966 tonnes
  • 5260 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:
Armour: Timber

French service
View of Lord Bridport's action aboard HMS Royal George off L'Orient, when Tigre was captured

Her first captain was Pierre Jean Van Stabel. When Van Stabel was promoted, she became the flagship of his 6-ship squadron. She notably fought in 1793 to rescue the French frigate Sémillante, along with the ship of the line Jean Bart.

Under Jacques Bedout, she took part in the Battle of Groix where she was captured by the British. She was recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Tigre.

British service

Under the Royal Navy she assisted in the defence of Acre during Bonaparte's siege.

On 8 January 1801 Penelope captured the French bombard St. Roche, which was carrying wine, liqueurs, ironware, Delfth cloth, and various other merchandise, from Marseilles to Alexandria. Swiftsure, Tigre, Minotaur, Northumberland, Florentina, and the schooner Malta, were in sight and shared in the proceeds of the capture.[2]

Because Tigre served in the Navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty authorised in 1850 for all surviving claimants.[Note 1]

After the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, Tigre continued in the blockade of Cadiz. On 25 November, Thunderer detained the Ragusan ship Nemesis, which was sailing from Isle de France to Leghorn, Italy, with a cargo of spice, indigo dye, and other goods.[4] Tigre shared the prize money with ten other British warships.[5]

Between 30 October and 1 November 1809 Admiral Benjamin Hallowell's squadron was at the Bay of Rosas. On 30 October, in the Battle of Maguelone,[6] boats from Tigre joined with boats from Tuscan, Cumberland, Volontaire, Apollo, Topaz, Philomel, and Scout in a cutting out attack after a squadron off the south of France chased an enemy convoy into the Bay of Rosas. The convoy had lost its escorting ships of the line, Robuste and Lion, ran aground near Frontignan and scuttled by their crew, but were nevertheless heavily protected by an armed storeship of 18 guns, two bombards and a xebec. Some of the British boats took heavy casualties in the clash, but Tuscan had only one officer slightly wounded, and one seaman dangerously wounded. By the following morning the British had accounted for all eleven vessels in the bay, burning those they did not bring out.[7] In January 1813 prize money was awarded to the British vessels that took part in the action for the capture of the ships of war Gromlire and Normande, and of the transports Dragon and Indien. A court declared Invincible a joint captor. Head money was also paid for Grondire and Normande and for the destruction of Lemproye and Victoire.[8] In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "1 Nov. Boat Service 1809" to all surviving claimants from the action.

Fate

She was eventually broken up in June 1817.

Notes and citations

Notes
  1. A first-class share of the prize money awarded in April 1823 was worth £34 2s 4d; a fifth-class share, that of a seaman, was worth 3s 11½d. The amount was small as the total had to be shared between 79 vessels and the entire army contingent.[3]

Citations
  1. "No. 21077". The London Gazette. 15 March 1850. pp. 791–792.
  2. "No. 15358". The London Gazette. 25 Apr 1801. p. 447.
  3. "No. 17915". The London Gazette. 3 April 1823. p. 633.
  4. "No. 15885". The London Gazette. 28 January 1806. p. 129.
  5. "No. 16364". The London Gazette. 24 April 1810. p. 617.
  6. Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France (in French). 4. Challamel ainé. pp. 56–58.
  7. "No. 16319". The London Gazette. 29 November 1809. pp. 1602–1604.
  8. "No. 16698". The London Gazette. 26 January 1813. p. 208.

References
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