Ship of the line of the Royal Navy
For other ships with the same name, see
HMS Alcide .
Battle of St Kitts
History Great Britain Name HMS Alcide Ordered 31 August 1774 Builder Deptford Dockyard Laid down 4 June 1776 Launched 30 July 1779 Fate Broken up, 1817 Notes General characteristics [ 1] Class and type Albion -classship of the line Tons burthen 1625 Length 168 ft (51 m) (gundeck) Depth of hold 18 ft 10 in (5.74 m) Propulsion Sails Sail plan Full-rigged ship Armament
Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
QD : 14 × 9-pounder gunsForecastle: 4 × 9-pounder guns
HMS Alcide , the French and Italian version of "Alcides", another name for Heracles , was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy , designed by Sir Thomas Slade and built by Adam Hayes at Deptford Dockyard being launched on 30 July 1779.[ 1]
Service history
On launch she was under command of Captain John Brisbane . She had a huge crew of 550 men. Under Brisbane she was part of the major British attack on the Caracas convoy in January 1780.[ 2]
She fought at the battles of Cape St Vincent and Martinique in 1780, and the battles of St. Kitts and the Saintes in 1782.
On 12 September 1780 Alcide captured the letter of marque Pocahontas . The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Pocahontas .
In January 1782 she took part in the Battle of St Kitts (aka the Battle of Frigate Bay).[ 3]
On 12 April 1782 Alcide was third in line of attack against the French fleet at the Battle of the Saintes , under the command of Captain Charles Thomson.[ 4]
Alcide took part in operations against Corsica in September 1793, where she served as flagship to Commodore Robert Linzee .
Notable commanders
Notable crew
Fate
She was paid off in Portsmouth in 1794 and a survey had found her uneconomic to repair.[ 5]
She was used as a receiving ship in Portsmouth Dock from 1802 until 1817, having had all guns removed.
Alcide was broken up at Portsmouth in April 1817.[ 1]
Citations and notes
^ a b c Lavery, Ships of the Line Vol. 1, p. 180.
^ "British Third Rate ship of the line 'Alcide' (1779)" .^ "Battle of Saint Kitts, 25th January 1782 - 26th January 1782" .^ Famous Fighters of the Fleet, Edward Fraser, 1904, p.106
^ "Advertisements & Notices". Hampshire/Portsmouth Telegraph , Leeds, England, 26 January 1801, issue 68.
References
Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8 .
