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HMS Imperieuse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There have been four warships in the Royal Navy named "Imperieuse".
- The first Imperieuse was a French sailing frigate captured in 1793, taken into the RN as a 40-gun fifth-rate, renamed Unite in 1803, in harbour service from 1832, and broken up in 1858.
The second and most famous, was built as the "Medea" in Ferrol, northern Spain and captured by the British during the disgraceful episode of the ambushing of the (neutral) Spanish "treasure" fleet off Cap Finisterre in 1804 by a squadron led by Rear-Admiral Alexander Cochrane. This large and very sea-handy Spanish frigate was taken into British service and refitted at Falmouth as a 38-gun 5th-rate (single-deck) frigate, renamed "Imperieuse" (without the French accent on the first 'e') and the command given to Cochrane's nephew, the dashing frigate commander Captain Thomas, Lord Cochrane. Imperieuse engaged in many of Lord Cochrane's most daring and famous actions, including the Siege of the Bay of Rosas in 1808 and the notorious cutting-out action at Basque Roads (Aix la Chapelle) in 1809 after which Admiral Gambier was court-martialled.
- The third Imperieuse was a wooden screw frigate in use from 1852 to 1867.
The name Imperieuse was also a later name of several other ships, and used of a training establishment in 1944 that consisted of the battleships Resolution and Revenge.