French Service
She fought in the battles of Genoa on 14 March 1795 and the Nile on 1 August 1798 under Aristide Aubert Du Petit Thouars. During the battle, she severely damaged HMS Majestic, causing nearly two hundred casualties, including 50 killed, among them Majestic's captain, George Blagdon Westcott, and 143 wounded. Du Petit-Thouars, who had both legs and an arm shot off, commanded his ship until he died. Tonnant was the only French ship still engaged in the morning, with her colours flying, though aground. It was not until 3 August that she finally struck.
The British took her into the Royal Navy, registering and naming her HMS Tonnant on 9 December 1798. She arrived at Plymouth on 17 July 1799. Even before she formally entered British service, she was among the vessels that participated in the capture of Greek vessel Ardito on 24 October 1798.
Tonnant was commissioned under Captain Loftus Bland in January 1799, with Captain Robert Fitzgerald taking over in February. He sailed her to Gibraltar and then back to Britain. Upon her arrival in Plymouth in 1800 she was laid up in ordinary.
Read more about this topic: HMS Tonnant (1798)
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