French ship Impétueux (1803)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Impétueux and French ship Brutus.

Scale model of Achille, sister ship of French ship Impétueux (1803), on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris.
History
France
Name	Impétueux
Ordered	31 May 1798
Laid down	22 September 1798
Launched	24 January 1803 as Brutus
Commissioned	March 1803
Decommissioned	14 September 1806
Renamed	Impétueux on 5 February 1803
Fate	Beached and set ablaze by the British in Chesapeake on 14 September 1806
General characteristics
Class and type	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement	2,966 tonnes 5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length	55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)
Beam	14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in)
Draught	7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder long guns Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pounder carronades
Armour	Timber

Impétueux was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. Launched at Lorient, France, on 24 January 1803 as Brutus, she was renamed Impétueux on 5 February 1803.

Impétueux served in the Caribbean under Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez during the Atlantic campaign of 1806.

On 19 August 1806, Impétueux was dismasted in a storm and drifted until 10 September 1806. On 14 September 1806, she was chased by Sir Richard John Strachan's Royal Navy squadron comprising HMS Belleisle, HMS Bellona and HMS Melampus; unable to fight, she beached herself in the Chesapeake Bay. Her wreck was set ablaze by the British and the crew was taken prisoner.

See also

• List of ships of the line of France