HMS Auguste (1705)

HMS Auguste was the French 54-gun Auguste built in Brest in 1704 that the British captured in 1705. In her brief French service she captured two British men-of-war. She was wrecked in 1716.

History
France
Name:	L'Auguste
Ordered:	2 January 1704
Builder:	Étienne Hubac, Brest
Laid down:	January 1704
Launched:	3 May 1704
Commissioned:	July 1704
In service:	1704-1705
Captured:	8 August 1705
General characteristics in French service
Class and type:	60-gun Third Rank ship of the line
Tons burthen:	800
Length:	Gun deck:137 French feet[Note 1] Keel:115 French feet
Beam:	36½ French feet
Draught:	18 French feet
Depth of hold:	16 French feet
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	400 (320 in peacetime), + 10 officers
Armament:	54 guns comprising: Gun deck: 24 × 18-pounders Upper deck: 26 x 8-pounders Quarterdeck: 4 x 4-pounders Forecastle nil
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Auguste
Acquired:	8 August 1705
Commissioned:	28 August 1705
In service:	1705–1716
Fate:	Wrecked 10 November 1716
General characteristics in British service
Class and type:	60-gun fourth-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	932​^8⁄94 bm
Length:	141 ft 6 in (43.1 m) (gun deck) 115 ft 2 in (35.1 m) (keel)
Beam:	39 ft 0 in (11.9 m)
Depth of hold:	16 ft 0 in (4.88 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	365 (240 in peacetime)
Armament:	60 guns comprising: Gun deck: 24 × 24-pounders Upper deck: 24 x 9-pounders Quarterdeck: 8 minions Forecastle: 2 minions

French service

Étienne Hubac designed Auguste as a privateer for René Duguay-Trouin. in whose service she was employed as part of a naval squadron of four vessels. Together with the 54-gun Jason (1704), she captured HMS Coventry in September 1704. Then, on 12 November, 30 miles south of the Isles of Scilly, together with Jason and the 26-gun frigate Valeur (1704), she captured the third rate Elizabeth. In February 1705 Auguste and the 44-gun fourth-rate Thétis were escorting Gloutonne, Élephant, and Jean et Jacques (which were armed en flute), when the convoy ran into a squadron under Admiral George Byng off Cape Finisterre. Only Auguste escaped.[1]

Chatham, together with Medway and Tryton, captured Auguste on 8 August 1705 (Old Style Calendar) - 19 August (New Calendar).[1]

British service

Auguste was registered for Royal Navy service from 28 August 1705 and fitted out for service in the English Channel. Commissioned for active service by Captain Robert Bokenham, she proved her worth by capturing the French privateers La Marie-Madeleine on 13 September 1706, and L'Hirondelle on 30 September 1706.[2]

Bokenham died in 1707 and Captain Thomas Scott replaced him. The next year, Auguste joined the fleet of Admiral George Byng, which was in need of reinforcement after the Scilly naval disaster of 1707. The fleet patrolled the Channel and the North Sea throughout 1708.[2] In 1709, Lord Duffus replaced Scott. From 1710 to 1713, she was under the command of Captain Robert Thompson in the Dunkirk squadron (1710), the Mediterranean (1711), and the West Indies (1712).[3]

Loss

In 1716, while under the command of Captain Robert Johnson, Auguste was in the Baltic. She had sailed from Nore on 18 May with a squadron under Sir John Norris to join a combined English-Dutch-Danish-Russian fleet in a demonstration to Sweden that Britain and her allies would resist Swedish interference with trade.[4]

In November she was returning to England from Copenhagen with a convoy. As the weather worsened, the convoy took shelter on the evening of 9 November at Læsø island. During the night Auguste's cables broke and she sailed out to sea to avoid being driven on shore. On the night of 10 November a gale drove her ashore on the nearby island of Anholt.[5] Captain Johnson, his officers, and at least 250 of his men were saved. Another 40 may have landed in Sweden.[6] In all, most of her people were saved.[4]

See also

• List of ships captured in the 18th century
• Bibliography of 18th-19th century Royal Naval history
• List of early warships of the English navy

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

1. The (pre-metric) French foot or pied was 6.575% longer than the equivalent British unit of measurement.

Citations

1. Roche (2005), p. 57.
2. Winfield (2007), p. 117.
3. "NMM, vessel ID 380379" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol v. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
4. Clowes et al. (1897-1903), Vol. 3, pp.26-27.
5. Hepper (1994), p. 30.
6. "No. 5494". The London Gazette. 11 December 1716. p. 1.

References

• Clowes, W. Laird; et al. (1897–1903). The Royal Navy: A history from the earliest times to the present. Boston / London: Little, Brown and Co. / S. Low, Marston and Co.
• Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
• Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, United Kingdom: Seaforth. ISBN 9781844157006.

See also

• List of ships captured in the 18th century
• Bibliography of 18th-19th century Royal Naval history
• List of early warships of the English navy

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