In December 1796 Droits de l'Homme, under capitaine de vaisseau Raymond de Lacrosse, took part in the invasion attempt against Ireland, carrying 549 soldiers. On their way, the fleet was dispersed by tempests. The Droits de l'Homme arrived at Bantry Bay and cruised off the coast, capturing the brigs Cumberland and Calypso. She stayed there for eight days to ascertain that no French ship was in distress on the coast, and departed for Brittany.
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# French ship Droits de l'Homme (1794)

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ship of the line of the French Navy



- 2,966 tonnes
- 5,260 tonnes fully loaded

Length55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)Beam14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in) (45 pied 10 pouces)Draught7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)PropulsionUp to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sailsArmament

ArmourTimber

She was part of the fleet that sailed in December 1796 on the disastrous Expédition d'Irlande. After unsuccessful attempts to land troops on Ireland, the Droits de l'Homme headed back to her home port of Brest with the soldiers still on board. Two British frigates were waiting to intercept stragglers from the fleet, and engaged Droits de l'Homme in the action of 13 January 1797. Heavily damaged by the British ships and unable to manoeuvre in rough seas, the ship struck a sandbar and was wrecked. Hundreds of people died in the disaster.

## Construction and naming

[ edit&action=edit&section=1 "Edit section: Construction and naming")]

## Service history

[ edit&action=edit&section=2 "Edit section: Service history")]

Droits de l'Homme, was involved in the action of 6 November 1794, chasing the British 74s Canada "HMS Canada (1765)") and Alexander "HMS Alexander (1778)"). Droits de l'Homme caught up with Alexander first, but was forced out of action with damage to her rigging, but Alexander was soon caught by Jean Bart "French ship Jean Bart (1790)") and Marat "HMS Belleisle (1795)") and captured, although she was to be recaptured by the British at the Battle of Groix on 22 June 1795.

Droits de l'Homme was lightly involved in Battle of Groix, on 22 June 1795, firing few if any shots during the battle.

### Expédition d'Irlande

[ edit&action=edit&section=3 "Edit section: Expédition d'Irlande")]

In December 1796 Droits de l'Homme, under capitaine de vaisseau Raymond de Lacrosse, took part in the invasion attempt against Ireland, carrying 549 soldiers. On their way, the fleet was dispersed by tempests. The Droits de l'Homme arrived at Bantry Bay and cruised off the coast, capturing the brigs Cumberland and Calypso. She stayed there for eight days to ascertain that no French ship was in distress on the coast, and departed for Brittany.

 Droits de l'Homme wrecked

On 25 Nivôse An V in the action of 13 January 1797, off Penmarch, Droits de l'Homme met the British frigates HMS Indefatigable "HMS Indefatigable (1784)") (44), under Sir Edward Pellew, and Amazon "HMS Amazon (1795)") (36), commanded by Robert C. Reynolds. The sea was rough, preventing Droits de l'Homme from using her lower deck batteries and from boarding the British. Lacrosse was wounded; he gave command of the ship to his second officer, Prévost de Lacroix, and had his crew swear not to strike their colours.[3]

After 13 hours of combat, running out of ammunition, the British broke contact when Indefatigable sighted land ahead. Indefatigable, despite having damage to her masts and rigging, managed to beat off the lee shore and escape Penmarch reefs; Amazon ran aground and was destroyed near Plozévet, and her crew captured. Droits de l'Homme, having lost her rudder, masts and anchors, ran aground off Plozévet.[4]

Some of the crew were rescued by the ship's boats and fishing boats from nearby villages, but the rescue was interrupted for five days by the storm; 60 men died for lack of food and water. General Jean-Amable Humbert, who was commanding the soldiers aboard, narrowly escaped drowning, and between 250 and 390 men died in the wreck. Captain Lacrosse was last to leave the ship.

## Commemoration

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In 1840, Major Pipon, an English officer who had been a prisoner aboard, erected an inscribed menhir on the coast in remembrance of the tragedy. In 1876 it was broken into several pieces by the weather, but restored in 1882.[5]

## Citations

[ edit&action=edit&section=5 "Edit section: Citations")]

## References

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- Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786—1862: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN "ISBN (identifier)") 978-1-84832-204-2.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Droits de l'Homme (ship, 1794) "commons:Category:Droits de l'Homme (ship, 1794)").

- Dennis A., Wheeler (1999). "The destruction of the French warship Droits de l'Homme, 14 January 1797: The climatic background to a famous event in English naval history". Weather. 54 (5): 135–141. Bibcode "Bibcode (identifier)"): 1999Wthr...54..134W. doi "Doi (identifier)"): 10.1002/j.1477-8696.1999.tb06444.x.

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Shipwrecks

- 11 Jan: Ganges "Ganges (1794 ship)")
- 14 Jan: HMS Amazon "HMS Amazon (1795)"), Droits de l'Homme
- 18 Jan: Indian Chief "Indian Chief (1796 ship)")
- January (unknown date): Jenny "Jenny (1783 ship)"), Surveillante "French frigate Surveillante (1778)")
- 1 Feb: Ocean "Ocean (1788 EIC ship)")
- 5 Feb: Ocean "Ocean (1788 EIC ship)")
- 9 Feb: Sydney Cove "Sydney Cove (1796 ship)")
- 14 Apr: Worcester "Worcester (1785 EIC ship)")
- 16 Apr: Harmonie "French frigate Harmonie (1796)")
- April (unknown date): HMS Albion "HMS Albion (1763)")
- 16 May: HMS Providence "HMS Providence (1791)")
- June (unknown date): HMS Pandour "Pandour (1780)"), HMS Resolution "HMS Resolution (1779)")
- 11 Oct: Royal Charlotte "Royal Charlotte (1774 ship)")
- 15 Oct: Delft "Dutch ship Delft (1783)")
- 16 Nov: HMS Tribune "HMS Tribune (1796)")
- 25 Dec: HMS Hamadryad "Spanish frigate Ninfa (1795)")
- Unknown date: Eliza "Eliza (shipwreck)"), Prince Frederick "Prince Frederick (1795 ship)")

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