Jemmapes was a 74-gun built for the French Navy during the 1780s. Completed in 1794, she played a minor role in the Napoleonic Wars.
Description The Téméraire-class ships had a length of , a beam of and a depth of hold of . The ships displaced 3,069 tonneaux and had a mean draught of . They had a tonnage of 1,537 port tonneaux. Their crew numbered 705 officers and ratings during wartime. They were fitted with three masts and ship rigged.Winfield & Roberts, p. 87
The muzzle-loading, smoothbore armament of the Téméraire class consisted of twenty-eight 36-pounder long guns on the lower gun deck, thirty 18-pounder long guns and thirty 18-pounder long guns on the upper gun deck. On the quarterdeck and forecastle were a total of sixteen 8-pounder long guns. Beginning with the ships completed after 1787, the armament of the Téméraires began to change with the addition of four 36-pounder obusiers on the poop deck (). Some ships had instead twenty 8-pounders.Winfield & Roberts, pp. 87–88
Construction and career Jemmapes was ordered on 17 October 1787 and was laid down at the Arsenal de Rochefort in August 1790 as Alexandre. The ship was renamed Jemmapes on 7 January 1793 and launched on 22 January 1794. She completed the following March.Winfield & Roberts, p. 89 Jemappes took part in the Atlantic campaign of May 1794 and in the Glorious First of June. She was dismasted by , with the loss of 60, including her captain, and 55 wounded. The ship took part in the expedition to Saint-Domingue under Julien Cosmao. Jemmapes was part of Zacharie Allemand's "invisible squadron" in 1805, under Captain Jean-Nicolas Petit. She fought at the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1809.Roche, p. 266 The ship was condemned in May 1820 and converted into a hulk in Rochefort the following year.
Citations
References
Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing.