HMS Raisonnable

Last updated December 25, 2021

Two ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Raisonnable, the French for "reasonable":

HMS Raisonnable (1758), originally a French vessel, the first ship to bear the name was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line. She was captured by the Royal Navy ships HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Achilles on 29 May 1758. She was lost off Martinique on 3 February 1762.
HMS Raisonnable (1768), built at Chatham Dockyard and launched in 1768, was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line. She was the first ship that the future Lord Nelson served aboard. She took part in the Battle of Copenhagen and the Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805). She was broken up at Sheerness in 1815.

This article includes a list of ships with the same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific ship led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended ship article, if one exists.

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HMS Raisonnable was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, named after the ship of the same name captured from the French in 1758. She was built at Chatham Dockyard, launched on 10 December 1768 and commissioned on 17 November 1770 under the command of Captain Maurice Suckling, Horatio Nelson's uncle. Raisonnable was built to the same lines as HMS Ardent, and was one of the seven ships forming the Ardent class of 1761. Raisonnable was the first ship in which Nelson served.

Six ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Panther, after the panther, whilst another two were planned:

Six ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Trident or HMS Trydent, after the Trident, often associated with the Roman God of the Sea, Neptune:

ench ship Raisonnable (1755

HMS Burford was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1754, and launched in 1757.

HMS Dorsetshire was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, amended in 1754, and launched on 13 December 1757.

HMS Achilles was a 60-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Barnard and Turner at Harwich to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1750, and launched in 1757. She was ordered in November 1755. HMS Achilles was a Dunkirk-class fourth rate, along with HMS Dunkirk and HMS America.

The action of 29 April 1758 was a naval engagement fought in the Bay of Biscay near Brest between a British Royal Navy squadron and a single French Navy ship of the line during the Seven Years' War. In an attempt to support the garrison of Louisbourg, who were facing an impending siege, the French Atlantic Fleet sent a number of squadrons and ships to sea during the spring of 1758. To intercept these ships, Royal Navy squadrons maintained a close blockade of their main port at Brest. In April a British squadron including HMS Intrepid, HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Achilles was cruising off the French Biscay Coast when a lone sail was sighted to the southwest. Dorsetshire, commanded by Captain Peter Denis was sent to investigate, discovering the ship to be the French ship of the line Raisonnable sailing to Louisbourg. In a fierce battle, Dorsetshire managed to inflict heavy casualties on the French ship and force her captain, Louis-Armand-Constantin de Rohan, to surrender.

Rear Admiral Sir Digby Dent (1739–1817) was a late 18th century and early 19th century Royal Navy commander.

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