French ship Hector (1756)
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The Hector was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.
Career
Hector was launched on 23 July 1755, and commissioned under Captain Vilarzel d'Hélie.[1]
In 1757, the departed Toulon on 18 March, arriving in Louisbourg on 15 June.[1] Returning to Brest on 23 November with 5000 sick aboard, she spread the typhus to the town;[2] the ensuing epidemic caused 10 000 fatalities.[1] She was then decommissioned and stayed in the reserve in Brest.[1]
In July 1762, while cruising off Cap Français, she struck the bottom on a rock. The same spot had been the theatre of the wreck of Dragon on 17 March of the same year.[3]
Between 1763 and 1777, she was decommissioned in Toulon.[1] During the American War of Independence, she reactivated, sailing to the Delaware in July 1778.[1] She arrived at Newport on 8 August 1778.[1]
On 14 August 1778, Hector and the 64-gun Vaillant captured the bombship HMS Thunder.[1] The same day, she also captured the 16-gun HMS Senegal at Sandy Hook.[1]
Hector then took part in the Battle of Grenada on 6 July 1779 and in the Siege of Savannah, before returning to Brest, arriving on 10 December 1779.[1] She was decommissioned in Lorient on 21 December, before rearming and thaking part in the Battle of the Chesapeake on 5 September 1781.[1]
During the Battle of the Saintes, from 9 to 12 April 1782, she battled HMS Canada and Alcide and was captured.[1] He captain, Lavicomté, died in the action.[1]
The British took her to Jamaica, where she was repaired and recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Hector.[1]
She took part in the Action of 5 September 1782, where she was damaged by the frigates Aigle and Gloire.[4]
Much damaged in this action and after suffering the 1782 Central Atlantic hurricane of 17 September, she sank on 4 October 1782.[1] The privateer Hawke saved 200 of her crew.[1]
See also
Sources and references
Notes
References
Bibliography
- Guérin, Léon (1845). Les marins illustres de la France (in French). Belin-Leprieur et Morizot.
- 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.
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name: | Hector |
| Ordered: | 2 July 1751[1] |
| Builder: | Toulon[1] |
| Laid down: | 23 July 1752[1] |
| Launched: | 23 July 1755[1] |
| In service: | June 1756[1] |
| Struck: | 3 October 1782[1] |
| Captured: | April 1782 |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name: | Hector |
| Acquired: | April 1782 by capture |
| Fate: | Damaged in battle September 1782. Sunk October 1782. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Hector class ship of the line[1] |
| Displacement: | 1450 tonnes[1] |
| Length: | 53.3 m (175 ft)[1] |
| Beam: | 14 m (46 ft)[1] |
| Draught: | 7.1 m (23 ft)[1] |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Armament: | 74 guns[1] |
| Armour: | Timber |