Puissant

French ship Puissant (1782)

Puissant was built in 1781-82 to a design by Antoine Groignard as a Pégase-class third rate. Her captain handed her over to the British at Toulon on 29 August 1793. She arrived at Portsmouth on 3 May 1794...

 was built in 1781-82 to a design by Antoine Groignard as a Pégase-class third rate. Her captain handed her over to the British at Toulon on 29 August 1793. She arrived at Portsmouth on 3 May 1794. She then remained there as an unarmed receiving ship, sheer hulk, and flagship until her sale in 1816.

British career

On 28 August 1793, Admiral Lord Hood

Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood

Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood was a British Admiral known particularly for his service in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 and Admiral Juan de Lángara

Juan de Lángara

Juan Francisco de Lángara y Huarte was a Spanish naval officer and Minister of Marine.-Life and career:He was born at Coruña, Galicia, the son of a renowned Basque family...

 of the Spanish Navy

Spanish Navy

The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...

, committed a force of 13,000 British, Spanish, Neapolitan

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, commonly known as the Two Sicilies even before formally coming into being, was the largest and wealthiest of the Italian states before Italian unification...

 and Piedmont

Piedmont

Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...

ese troops to the French royalists' cause at Toulon

Siege of Toulon

The Siege of Toulon was an early Republican victory over a Royalist rebellion in the Southern French city of Toulon. It is also often known as the Fall of Toulon.-Context:...

. The next day, the royalists handed over a number of their vessels to the British.

Puissant was under the command of Mon. Ferrand. After her hand-over to British control she spent several weeks laying opposite and firing on a shore battery of 24-pounders at the head of La Seine in Toulon harbor. She then sailed to Portsmouth. The British government awarded Ferrand a pension of £200 per annum for his services.

In early 1796 Puissant was fitted as a receiving ship and was commissioned in April under Commander David Hotchkiss. From March 1798 she was under the command of Lieutenant R. Allen and then between October 1799 and 1801 under Commander William Syme.

In 1803 Lieutenant James Bowen recommissioned her as a receiving ship. Later that year she became a sheer hulk under Commander James Irwin who remained her captain through 1810. Captain Charles William Paterson succeeded Irwin in 1811 and remained in command until 12 August 1812. In September 1812 Captain Benjamin Page became her captain and she served as the flagship for Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton.

Prize-money

Although Puissant was unarmed and confined to port, her crew did earn prize money on three occasions.
On 26 October 1806, Tsar Alexander I of Russia

Alexander I of Russia

Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....

 declared war on Great Britain. The official news did not arrive there until 2 December, at which time the British declared an embargo on all Russian vessels in British ports. Puissant was one of some 70 vessels that shared in the seizure of the 44-gun Russian frigate Speshnoy (Speshnyy), then in Portsmouth harbour. The British seized the Russian storeship Wilhelmina (Vilghemina) at the same time. The Russian vessels were carrying the payroll for Vice-Admiral Dmitry Senyavin

Dmitry Senyavin

Dmitry Nikolayevich Senyavin or Seniavin was a Russian admiral who ranks among the greatest seamen of the Napoleonic Wars.- Service under Ushakov :...

’s squadron in the Mediterranean.

Then on 27 August 1808, Puissant and the "armed cutter" shared in the detention of the Danish ship Deodaris. At the time, Linnet may have been acting as a tender to Puissant.

Lastly, when news of the outbreak of the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

reached Britain, the Royal Navy seized all American vessels then in British ports. Puissant was among the Royal Navy vessels then lying at Spithead or Portsmouth and so entitled to share in the grant for the American ships Belleville, Janus, Aeos, Ganges and Leonidas seized there on 31 July 1812.