French ship Pluton (1805)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Pluton.

The battle of Trafalgar, by Auguste Mayer. The Pluton is depicted at the centre
History
France
Name	Pluton
Namesake	Pluto
Ordered	June 1803
Builder	Toulon
Laid down	August 1803
Launched	17 January 1805
Completed	March 1805
Captured	By Spain at Cadiz in June 1808
Spain
Name	Pluton
Namesake	Pluto
Acquired	1808
Renamed	Montañes
Fate	Broken up in 1816
General characteristics
Class and type	Template:Sclass-
Displacement	2,900 tonnes
Length	55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)
Beam	14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in) (44.5 pied)
Draught	7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Complement	3 officers + 690 men
Armament	74 guns 28 × 36-pounder long guns 30 × 24-pounder long guns 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pounder carronades

Pluton was a Template:Sclass- 74-gun French ship of the line built at Toulon. She was one of two prototypes for a derivative sub-class of the original design; this sub-class (somewhat smaller than the primary design) was specially intended for construction in some of the shipyards in states occupied by the French, where there was less depth of water than in the main French shipyards. Although the Pluton (and her sister, the Borée) were built at Toulon, all other vessels of this sub-class were built in these overseas yards, notably at Antwerp but also at Genoa, Trieste, Venice, Amsterdam, Flushing and Rotterdam.

The Pluton took part in the Battle of Trafalgar under Captain Julien Cosmao, and escaped to Cádiz with other ships. Two days later, on 23 October 1805, she was the flagship of the counter-attack from Cádiz, together with Indomptable, Neptune, Rayo and San Francisco de Asis. They managed to recapture the Santa Ana and Algésiras. To prevent their recapture, the British scuttled the Intrépide and Neptuno. Rayo and San Francisco de Asis were wrecked on their journey back.

She was captured by Spain in Cadiz in 1808 and commissioned in the Spanish Navy as Pluton. She was later renamed Montañes, and was eventually broken up in 1816.

See also

• List of ships of the line of France

References

• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.