French gun vessel Bombarde (1800 ship)

History
France
Name| Bombarde, or #69
Launched| c.1800
Captured| 10 January 1801
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen| 9657⁄94 (bm)
Length| 68 ft 1+1⁄2 in (20.8 m) (gundeck)
Beam| 13 ft 1+1⁄2 in (4.0 m)
Draught| 4 ft 10 in (1.5 m)
Sail plan| Lugger
Complement| 30[2]
Armament| 1 × 24-pounder gun + 1 × 13-inch mortar + 4 swivel guns[2]

The French gun vessel Bombarde was probably built around 1800, HMS Boadicea captured her in January 1801.

## Design[edit]

The "Bombardes", or "Bateaux-bombardiers", were 50-tonne boats designed by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait and Joseph Muskein and built by engineers such as Fouache. They were originally gunboats ("bateaux-canonniers"), modified during their construction to carry heavy mortars. Such ships were launched from 1797 to 1802. They were armed with a 12-inch mortar and propelled by three masts and 14 lines of rowers. [3][4]

After N°69 was captured, the British described her as "curiously constructed", in that she was essentially a shallow-draft, lugger-rigged raft.[a] She could readily carry 150 soldiers. Furthermore, her gangways were broad, fortified, and built over ammunition cases. She was one of some 200 vessels that the French had massed at Havre for the planned invasion of Britain, and which had been sitting there for two years.[2]

## Career[edit]

On 10 January 1801,[b] Boadicea captured Bombarde,[6] which had been sailing from Havre to Brest. Bombarde was at Chenal du Four, under the command of Ensign Debegrue, when three boats captured her.[5] Bombarde arrived in Plymouth six days later.[2]

She was advertised for sale in April 1801. The description refers to her as being French-built, square-sterned, and almost new.[1]

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ French sources give her the number "73".[5][3][4]
2. ^ French sources say 8 January.[5]

## Citations[edit]

1. ^ a b "Advertisements & Notices." Trewman's Exeter Flying Post (Exeter, England) 23 April 1801: n.p.
2. ^ a b c d Naval Chronicle, Vol 5, p.94.
3. ^ a b Demerliac (2003), p. 44, n°256.
4. ^ a b Demerliac (2003), p. 44, n°257.
5. ^ a b c Roche (2005), p. 77.
6. ^ "No. 15481". The London Gazette. 18 May 1802. p. 508.

## References[edit]

* Demerliac, Alain (2003). La Marine du Consulat et du Premier Empire: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1800 à 1815 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 2-903179-30-1.
* Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1\. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922. (1671-1870)