Capture
As Hoche, she took part in the French attempt to land in County Donegal, in the west of Ulster, to support the Irish Rebellion of 1798. She formed the flagship of an expedition under Commodore Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart, consisting of the Hoche and eight frigates, and transporting 3,000 French troops. Aboard the Hoche was Wolfe Tone, the leading figure in the Society of United Irishmen. The ships were chased by a number of British frigates after they had left the port of Brest on 16 September. Despite throwing them off, they were then pursued by a fleet of larger ships under the command of Commodore Sir John Borlase Warren. Both sides were hampered by the heavy winds and gales they encountered off the west coast of Ireland, and Hoche lost all three of her topmasts and had her mizzensail shredded, causing her to fall behind. The French were finally brought to battle off Tory Island on 12 October 1798.
The battle started at 07:00 in the morning, with Warren giving the signal for HMS Robust to steer for the French line and attack Hoche directly. Hoche then came under fire from HMS Magnanime. The next three British ships into action, the frigates HMS Ethalion, Melampus and Amelia, all raked the isolated Hoche as they passed before pressing on sail to pursue the French frigates, now sailing towards to the south-west. With the Hoche heavily damaged, Bompart finally surrendered at 10:50 with 270 of his crew and passengers killed or wounded, giving his sword to Lieutenant Sir Charles Dashwood. Wolfe Tone was later recognised and arrested.
Read more about this topic: HMS Donegal (1798)
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