French ship Pégase (1781)
Ship of the line of the French Navy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pégase was a 74-gun Pégase-class ship of the line of the French Navy. The lead ship of her class, she was launched in 1781 and captured on 21 April 1782 by a British fleet at the Battle of Ushant. Pégase was subsequently brought back to Portsmouth and commissioned into the Royal Navy as the third-rate HMS Pegase. Pegase was converted into a prison hulk in 1799 and decommissioned and broken up in 1815.
Pégase entering Portsmouth Harbour on 30 April 1782 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} France | |
| Name | Pégase |
| Launched | 5 October 1781 |
| Captured | 21 April 1782, by Royal Navy |
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Pegase |
| Acquired | 21 April 1782 |
| Fate | Broken up, 1815 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | 74-gun Pégase-class ship of the line |
| Displacement | 3,000 tonneaux |
| Tons burthen | 1,515 port tonneaux |
| Length | 55.2 m (181 ft 1 in) |
| Beam | 14.3 m (46 ft 11 in) |
| Draught | 6.8 m (22 ft 4 in) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement | 600 |
| Armament | 74 guns of various weights of shot, later upgraded to 78 |
Career
Pégase took part in the Battle of Ushant on 21 April 1782. She was captured by HMS Foudroyant, under Captain John Jervis.[1] Jervis was invested Knight of the Order of the Bath for the capture.[2] Pégase was bought into the Royal Navy and commissioned as the third-rate HMS Pegase. She served as a prison hulk in Portsmouth from 1799, and was broken up in 1815.
