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HMS Genoa

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For other ships with the same name, see French ship Brillant.

HMS Genoa, Commodore Bathurst, at the Battle of Navarino 20 October 1827, drawn by George Philip Reinagle from onboard HMS Mosquito
History
France
NameBrillant
BuilderGenoa[1]
Laid down1813 [1]
CapturedOn slip 18 April 1814 [1]
United Kingdom
NameGenoa [1]
Launched18 April 1815
Acquired18 April 1814
Commissioned18 May 1821
FateBroken up, January 1838
General characteristics [2]
Class and typeTéméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement
  • 2,966 tonnes
  • 5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)
Beam14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in)
Draught7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
PropulsionUp to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Complement600
Armament
ArmourTimber

HMS Genoa was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line laid down for the French Navy as Brillant which the British captured incomplete while still on slip at the fall of Genoa in 1814. She was completed for the Royal Navy and served as HMS Genoa until 1838. On 20 October 1827 Genoa took part in the Battle of Navarino where her captain Walter Bathurst was killed.

Service

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Capture

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Brillant was constructed at Genoa between February 1812 and April 1815, as the city had been annexed by France in 1805. On 18 April 1814 she was captured while still in construction by an invading British squadron commanded by Captain Sir Josias Rowley.[3] She was completed by the Royal Navy as HMS Genoa and launched on 18 April 1815.[4][5]

Royal Navy career

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The Battle of Navarino, 20 October 1827, by Thomas Luny after Reinagle. A part of the port side of Genoa can be seen in the extreme left foreground

Genoa sailed for Britain after her launching and arrived at Chatham on 13 October 1815.[4] From September 1816 to February 1818 Genoa underwent repairs to configure her as a British ship instead of the French one she was constructed as. Her first role was as guard ship at Chatham from 18 May until October 1821 under Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland.[6][7] Genoa was then commissioned on 3 October under Captain Sir Thomas Livingstone to serve on the Lisbon Station, which she did until 1825.[6][8] While off Lisbon, Captain William Cumberland assumed command in October 1824, and in turn was replaced by Captain Walter Bathurst who by 27 May 1825 had Genoa as part of the Mediterranean Fleet.[6]

On 20 October 1827 Genoa and the fleet took part in the Battle of Navarino.[6][9] Genoa received heavy fire during the battle in her role supporting the flagship HMS Asia, resulting in high casualty numbers.[9][7] The enemy Turks fired their guns high into Genoa, killing so many Royal Marines on the poop deck that they were forced to retreat to the lower quarterdeck to lessen their casualties.[7] She had the most men killed during the battle of the British ships present, twenty six, including Captain Bathurst.[6][9] Bathurst was injured early on by a large splinter lacerating his face, and was later killed by a round shot.[7][5][Note 1] Command of Genoa during the battle then devolved to her second captain, Commander Richard Dickinson. Admiral Edward Codrington described Genoa's manoeuvres to assist his flagship during the battle as 'beautiful'.[10] Captain Charles Leonard Irby was appointed by Codrington to take Genoa home in the place of Bathurst, and by November she had arrived at Plymouth.[6]

Genoa was paid off in January 1828 before becoming a receiving ship between 1833 and 1837. She was broken up at Plymouth in January 1838.[6]

Notes

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  1. ^ Captain Bathurst did not succumb to his wounds straight away, but was carried down to the ship's cockpit where he spent the rest of the battle before dying at around 3 a.m. on 21 October.[7]

Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d Roche, vol.1, p.87
  2. ^ Clouet, Alain (2007). "La marine de Napoléon III : classe Téméraire - caractéristiques". dossiersmarine.free.fr. Archived from the original on 23 March 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  3. ^ Clowes, Royal Navy vol. 5, p. 306
  4. ^ a b Winfield, British Warships, p. 226
  5. ^ a b Genoa, 1814 Archived 9 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Naval Database.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Winfield, British Warships, p. 227
  7. ^ a b c d e Phillips, Genoa (78) (1814). Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  8. ^ O'Byrne, Naval Biographical Dictionary, p. 663
  9. ^ a b c Laughton, National Biography, p. 412
  10. ^ Clowes, Royal Navy vol. 6, p. 258

References

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  • Clowes, William Laird (1900) The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to 1900 Volume Five. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company.
  • Clowes, William Laird (1901) The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to 1900 Volume Six. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company.
  • Laughton, John Knox (1885) Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 03. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  • O'Byrne, William R. (1849) A Naval Biographical Dictionary: Comprising the Life and Services of every Living Officer in Her Majesty's Navy, from the Rank of Admiral of the Fleet to that of Lieutenant, inclusive Volume 2. London: J. Murray.
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. Roche. pp. 161–162. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
  • Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
  • Winfield, Rif (2015). French warships in the age of sail, 1786-1861. Barnsley. ISBN 978-184832-204-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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