French Ship Neptune (1803) - Trafalgar Campaign

Trafalgar Campaign

Neptune joined the rest of the Toulon fleet preparing to sail for the West Indies on 21 October 1804 under the command of Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve. The fleet was to transport 6,500 troops to attack British possessions in the Caribbean, but was unable to leave Toulon owing to the presence of a British fleet under Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, that was blockading the port. It was not until early January that Villeneuve judged the situation favourable enough to make a sortie. Neptune sailed with the 20-strong fleet on 17 January, but were sighted by the patrolling frigates of Nelson's inshore squadron. Villeneuve struggled on, but bad weather in the Gulf of Lyons dispersed his fleet, and fearing an attack on his disorganised forces, returned to Toulon three days after setting out. Villeneuve had in fact managed to give Nelson the slip. The two patrolling frigates, HMS Seahorse and HMS Active, had rushed to report the news to Nelson, anchored at La Maddalena, and in so doing, left the French unobserved. Nelson had rushed his fleet to sea, anticipating that Villeneuve would heading east. Nelson spent nearly six weeks sailing back and forth across the Mediterranean through heavy seas while the French remained in port, before news finally reached him of Villeneuve's location.

It was not until March that the French made another attempt to break out of Toulon, putting to sea on 29 March. Neptune formed part of Villeneuve's division, consisting of the flagship, the 80-gun Bucentaure, and the 74-gun ships Pluton, Mont-Blanc, Berwick and Atlas. The other division was commanded by Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley, flying his flag aboard the 80-gun Formidable, and accompanied by the 80-gun Indomptable, and the 74-gun ships Swiftsure, Scipion and Intrépide. Accompanying the fleet were six frigates and two brigs. The French fleet reached Cartagena on 6 April, having evaded Nelson through sheer chance, and pressed on from there, sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar on 8 April. After resupplying briefly at Cadiz, the fleet sailed to the West Indies, arriving at Fort de France, Martinique on 14 May, where they were joined over the next two days by six Spanish ships of the line and a frigate under Frederico Gravina.

The fleets resupplied and settled in to await the arrival of a large French fleet from Brest under Vice-Admiral Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume. Unbeknownst to Villeneuve, Ganteaume was still being blockaded in Brest. The combined fleet achieved little while in the West Indies, managing only to capture the British-held Diamond Rock after two weeks of sitting idle at anchor. The small garrison surrendered on 2 June, by which time the frigate Didon had arrived with orders. Villeneuve was instructed to attack and capture the British colonies in the West Indies, before sailing his entire force back to Europe, join Ganteaume at Brest and cover the invasion flotilla. Villeneuve gathered his forces and pressed northwards towards Antigua, but on 7 June he came across a lightly defended convoy of British merchants, and captured several of them the following day. From them he discovered that Nelson was in hot pursuit, and had arrived at Barbados. Villeneuve decided to break off operations and return to Europe. The fleet got underway on 11 June.