French ship Rivoli (1810)

Rivoli was a Téméraire-class ship of the line of the French Navy. Rivoli was built in the Arsenal of Venice, whose harbour was too shallow for a 74-gun to exit. To allow her to depart, she was fitted with seacamels.[note 1]

140th scale model of Rivoli fitted with seacamels.
History
French Navy EnsignFrance
NameRivoli
NamesakeBattle of Rivoli
BuilderVenice
Laid down1807
Launched6 September 1810
Captured22 February 1812
United Kingdom
NameRivoli
AcquiredCaptured from the French on 22 February 1812
FateBroken up 1819
General characteristics
Class and typeSeventy-four Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement1,630 tonnes
Length52 m (171 ft)
Beam14 m (46 ft)
Draught7 m (23 ft)
Complement3 officers + 690 men
Armament
Capture of Rivoli, 22 February 1812

On her maiden journey, under Jean-Baptiste Barré, the British 74-gun third-rate HMS Victorious intercepted her on 22 February 1812. Her crew was inexperienced, and in the ensuing Battle of Pirano, the British captured Rivoli after some 400 men of her crew of over 800 were killed or wounded.[2]

The Royal Navy subsequently recommissioned her as HMS Rivoli. On 30 May 1815, under Captain Edward Stirling Dickson, she captured the frigate Melpomène off Naples. The ship was broken up in 1819.[3]

Notes

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  1. ^ Rivoli and Mont Saint-Bernard were the only two French ships of the line to use this system.

Citations

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  1. ^ Troude 1867, p. 157
  2. ^ "No. 16600". The London Gazette. 5 May 1812. pp. 851–852.
  3. ^ Winfield & Roberts p.96

References

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