HMS Foudroyant (1798)
HMS Foudroyant (1798) HMS Foudroyant, on her side on a beach in Blackpool done in by a summer storm, 1897: the end of one era and the start of another. Launched 99 years before to fight in the French Revolutionary Wars, the old 80 gunner was beached as the era of the Dreadnought was coming into existence. Wreck of HMS ‘Foudroyant’, Blackpool, 1897. The Foudroyant, launched in 1798, was the flagship of Admiral Nelson after the Battle of the Nile, from June 1799 to June 1800. In 1892 she was about to be broken up but was saved and restored to her original state. To offset the restoration cost of £20,000 she was put on display at seaside resorts. On 16 June 1897, she dragged her moorings during a violent storm and ran ashore on the pleasure beach at Blackpool, near the North Pier. There was no loss of life but she was badly damaged, and in November she was dashed to pieces by winter gales. She continued to be a major attraction to visitors, however, and all salvageable timber and metal wa...