French ship Hautpoult (1807)

Hautpoult was a Téméraire class 74-gun French Navy ship of the line.

Intrepid behaviour of Captain Charles Napier, in HM 18-gun Brig Recruit for which he was appointed to the Hautpoult. The 74 now pouring a broadside into her. April 15, 1809. Hautpoult can be seen in the background.
History
France
Name: Hautpoult
Namesake: General Jean-Joseph Ange d'Hautpoul
Builder: Frères Crucy at Lorient shipyard
Laid down: June 1803
Launched: 2 September 1807
Completed: February 1808
Captured: 17 April 1809
United Kingdom
Name: Abercrombie
Acquired: April 1809
Honours and
awards:		 Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Guadaloupe"[1]
Fate: Sold 1817
General characteristics [2]
Class and type: Téméraire-class ship of the line
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:
Armour: Timber

French service

On 16 February 1809 Captain Amand Leduc, Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, commanded Hautpoult on her maiden voyage, a mission to Martinique with reinforcements and supplies, as flagship of a squadron of three 74-gun ships. (The others vessels were Courageux and Polonais), and two frigates, under the overall command of Commodore Amable Troude.) Learning of the capture of Martinique, Troude's squadron turned back but were pursued by the British.

Hautpoult was captured by her now-British sister ship, HMS Pompée, on 17 April 1809, after a chase over three nights and two days by Pompée, Recruit, and Neptune. Recruit hung on the tail of the French squadron and managed to cripple Hautpoult's mizzen mast, so Pompée could bring her to action and capture her after exchanging fire for 75 minutes. Between 80 and 90 men from Hautpoult were killed or wounded, including several officers.

British service

Taken as a prize, she was renamed Abercrombie, and was briefly given to the commander of Recruit, Charles Napier, who was made post captain for his part in the action, as acting captain. Captain Sir William Fahie of Pompée, who had fallen ill after capturing her, then replaced Napier.

Abercrombie also participated in the capture of Guadeloupe in January and February 1810.[Note 1] In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Guadaloupe" to all surviving participants of the campaign.

While she was at anchor in Basque Roads on 26 October 1811, lightning damaged her fore topmast and foremast.

On 17 July 1813 Abercrombie, under the command of Captain William Charles Fahie, shared the proceeds of the capture of Union with Dublin.[Note 2]

Fate

Abercrombie was sold in 1817.

See also

Notes and citations
Notes
  1. A first-class share of the prize money for Guadaloupe was worth £113 3s 1¼d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth £1 9s 1¼d.[3]
  2. A first-class share of the prize money was worth £7 19s 2¾d; a sixth-class share was worth 11½d.[4]
Citations
  1. "No. 20393". The London Gazette. 26 January 1849. p. 243.
  2. Clouet, Alain (2007). "La marine de Napoléon III : classe Téméraire - caractéristiques". dossiersmarine.free.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 23 March 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  3. "No. 16938". The London Gazette. 24 September 1814. pp. 1923–1924.
  4. "No. 17025". The London Gazette. 17 June 1815. p. 1171.


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