French ship Impétueux (1803)
Scale model of Achille, sister ship of French ship Impétueux (1803), on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| France | |
| Name | Impétueux |
| Ordered | 31 May 1798 |
| Laid down | 22 September 1798 |
| Launched | 24 January 1803 as Brutus |
| Commissioned | March 1803 |
| Decommissioned | 14 September 1806 |
| Renamed | Impétueux on 5 February 1803 |
| Fate | Beached and set ablaze by the British in Chesapeake on 14 September 1806 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Téméraire-class ship of the line |
| Displacement | 3,069 tonneaux |
| Tons burthen | 1,537 port tonneaux |
| 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 |
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| Armour | Timber |
Impétueux was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. Launched at Lorient, France, on 24 January 1803 as Brutus, she was renamed Impétueux on 5 February 1803.
Impétueux served in the Caribbean under Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez during the Atlantic campaign of 1806.
On 19 August 1806, Impétueux was dismasted in a storm and drifted until 10 September 1806. On 14 September 1806, she was chased by Sir Richard John Strachan's Royal Navy squadron comprising HMS Belleisle, HMS Bellona and HMS Melampus; unable to fight, she beached herself in the Chesapeake Bay. Her wreck was set ablaze by the British and the crew was taken prisoner.