French Navy 3rd Rates of Renown

Black Seas: French Navy 3rd Rates of Renown

In this box you will find three French Navy 3rd Rate ships. Building on the excellent plastic sprues the box contains additional metal components to produce the following famous ships, all present at the Battle of Trafalgar!

Indomptable- An 80-gun Tonnant-class ship of the line, the Indomptable was laid down in 1788 and saw service from 1791. Her initial action at The Glorious First of June saw her dismasted and towed back to Brest.

Under the command of the admirable Villeneuve she sailed to sea as part of a large fleet towards the West Indies, but returned to Europe when news came that Nelson had arrived there. At the Battle of Cape Finisterre a heavy artillery exchange was stopped by thick fog, leaving an exhausted French fleet to anchor in Ferrol before moving on to Cadiz. Admiral Villeneuve, with his command under threat, vowed to meet the British at Cape Trafalgar.

At Trafalgar the Indomptable formed part of the Spanish line, engaging Vice Admiral Collingwood’s flagship, HMS Royal Sovereign, as well as HMS Belleisle, HMS Revenge, HMS Dreadnought and HMS Thunderer. Drifting leeward and out of range, she turned back towards Cadiz but became caught up in a rescue operation for Bucentaure which had struck a reef. The following night the Indomptable became caught in a storm and was carried onto rocks off the Cadiz coast. An estimated only 150 (out of a 100 to 1400 men) survived the wreck.

Formidable - an 80-gun Tonnant-class ship of the line of the French Navy, was briefly named Figuieres, but was re-named Formidable again before her launch at Toulon on 31st May 1795. She took part in the Battle of Algeciras, the Battle of Cape Finisterre and the Battle of Trafalgar - in which she served as Vice-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley's flagship in the six-ship vanguard of the French fleet.

She was captured by the British at the Battle of Cape Ortegal on 4 November 1805. During her service with the Royal Navy, she was renamed HMS Brave and was eventually sold to be broken up in 1816.

Argonaute- a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. Under Vice-Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse she took part in the Saint-Domingue expedition in 1802. She participated in the Battle of Trafalgar, but managed to return to Cadiz. Due to the heavy damage she suffered and the British blockade, she was unable to leave port, she was eventually exchanged in December 1806 for the Spanish ship Vencedor. At this point, she was re-named Argonauta, but never recommissioned.

Box contains 3 plastic ships with metal components.

Models come unpainted.