HMS Auguste (1705)

History
France
Name	L'Auguste
Ordered	2 January 1704
Builder	Étienne Hubac, Brest
Laid down	January 1704
Launched	3 May 1704
Commissioned	July 1704
In service	1704-1705
Captured	8 August 1705
General characteristics in French service
Class and type	60-gun Third Rank ship of the line
Tons burthen	800
Length	Gun deck:137 French feet[lower-alpha 1]; Keel:115 French feet;
Beam	36½ French feet
Draught	18 French feet
Depth of hold	16 French feet
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	400 (320 in peacetime), + 10 officers
Armament	54 guns comprising:; Gun deck: 24 × 18-pounders; Upper deck: 26 x 8-pounders; Quarterdeck: 4 x 4-pounders; Forecastle nil;
Great Britain
Name	HMS Auguste
Acquired	8 August 1705
Commissioned	28 August 1705
In service	1705–1716
Fate	Wrecked 10 November 1716
General characteristics in British service
Class and type	60-gun fourth-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	9328⁄94 bm
Length	141 ft 6 in (43.1 m) (gun deck); 115 ft 2 in (35.1 m) (keel);
Beam	39 ft 0 in (11.9 m)
Depth of hold	16 ft 0 in (4.88 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	365 (240 in peacetime)
Armament	Gun deck: 24 × 24-pounder guns; Upper deck: 24 x 9-pounder guns; QD: 8 minions; Fc: 2 minions;

HMS Auguste was the French 54-gun Auguste built in Brest in 1704 that the British captured in 1705. In her brief French service she captured two British men-of-war. She was wrecked in 1716.

French service

Étienne Hubac designed Auguste as a privateer for René Duguay-Trouin. in whose service she was employed as part of a naval squadron of four vessels. Together with the 54-gun Jason (1704), she captured HMS Coventry in September 1704. Then, on 12 November, 30 miles south of the Isles of Scilly, together with Jason and the 26-gun frigate Valeur (1704), she captured the third rate Elizabeth. In February 1705 Auguste and the 44-gun fourth-rate Thétis were escorting Gloutonne, Élephant, and Jean et Jacques (which were armed en flute), when the convoy ran into a squadron under Admiral George Byng off Cape Finisterre. Only Auguste escaped.[1]

Chatham, together with Medway and Tryton, captured Auguste on 8 August 1705 (Old Style Calendar) - 19 August (New Calendar).[1]

British service

Auguste was registered for Royal Navy service from 28 August 1705 and fitted out for service in the English Channel. Commissioned for active service by Captain Robert Bokenham, she proved her worth by capturing the French privateers La Marie-Madeleine on 13 September 1706, and L'Hirondelle on 30 September 1706.[2]

Bokenham died in 1707 and Captain Thomas Scott replaced him. The next year, Auguste joined the fleet of Admiral George Byng, which was in need of reinforcement after the Scilly naval disaster of 1707. The fleet patrolled the Channel and the North Sea throughout 1708.[2] In 1709, Lord Duffus replaced Scott. From 1710 to 1713, she was under the command of Captain Robert Thompson in the Dunkirk squadron (1710), the Mediterranean (1711), and the West Indies (1712).[3]

Loss

In 1716, while under the command of Captain Robert Johnson, Auguste was in the Baltic. She had sailed from Nore on 18 May with a squadron under Sir John Norris to join a combined English-Dutch-Danish-Russian fleet in a demonstration to Sweden that Britain and her allies would resist Swedish interference with trade.[4]

In November she was returning to England from Copenhagen with a convoy. As the weather worsened, the convoy took shelter on the evening of 9 November at Læsø island. During the night Auguste's cables broke and she sailed out to sea to avoid being driven on shore. On the night of 10 November a gale drove her ashore on the nearby island of Anholt.[5] Captain Johnson, his officers, and at least 250 of his men were saved. Another 40 may have landed in Sweden.[6] In all, most of her people were saved.[4]

Notes

The pre-metric French foot or pied was 6.575% longer than the equivalent British unit of measurement.

Citations

Roche (2005), p. 57.
Winfield (2007), p. 117.
"NMM, vessel ID 380379" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol v. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
Clowes et al. (1897-1903), Vol. 3, pp.26-27.
Hepper (1994), p. 30.
"No. 5494". The London Gazette. 11 December 1716. p. 1.

References

Clowes, W. Laird; et al. (1897–1903). The Royal Navy: A history from the earliest times to the present. Boston / London: Little, Brown and Co. / S. Low, Marston and Co.
Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
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.
Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, United Kingdom: Seaforth. ISBN 9781844157006.

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[1] The pre-metric French foot or pied was 6.575% longer than the equivalent British unit of measurement.

[FOOTNOTERoche200557-2] Roche (2005), p. 57.

[FOOTNOTEWinfield2007117-3] Winfield (2007), p. 117.

[NMM-WH-380379-4] "NMM, vessel ID 380379" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol v. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.

[Clowes-5] Clowes et al. (1897-1903), Vol. 3, pp.26-27.

[FOOTNOTEHepper199430-6] Hepper (1994), p. 30.

[7] "No. 5494". The London Gazette. 11 December 1716. p. 1.