page_title: HMS Theseus (1786)
section_title: Later service
hierarchical_section_title: HMS Theseus (1786) / Service / Later service
caption_attribution_description: English: The Theseus, Captn J Beresford, leading the British squadron of 4 sail of the line, near the Isle of Grouais, in the face of the Brest fleet of 8 sail of the line, obliging them to haul their wind &amp; preventing their joining the l' Orient squadron then laying ready to put to sea, Feby 24th 1809. From a sketch by J. Beresford. Engraved by Frederick Christian Lewis. (F. C. Lewis). Taken from the Naval Chronology of Great Britain; Or, An Historical Account of Naval and Maritime Events from the Commencement of the War in 1803 to the End of the Year 1816 ... by James Ralfe. Volume II, Pages 122-123&#91;1&#93;&#91;2&#93;
context_page_description: HMS Theseus was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.
  One of the eight Culloden class ships designed by Thomas Slade, she was built at Perry, Blackwall Yard, London and launched on 25 September 1786.
context_section_description: Four years later a refitted Theseus took part Blockade of Saint-Domingue in 1803, under Captain John Bligh. 
  She also took part in the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1809. Lord Cochrane initiated a daring attack, led by fire ships and other explosive vessels, in an attempt to cause chaos among their target, an anchored French squadron. Many of the French ships were subsequently run aground due to the havoc that this attack caused. The enemy squadron would probably have been completely destroyed had the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Lord Gambier, not hesitated over necessary decisions, such as to deploy the main fleet which instead lay in wait for their orders. Thus the remnants of the French escaped destruction.
  Theseus was broken up at Chatham in 1814.
caption: Capt J. Beresford leading the British squadron in Theseus on 24 February 1809
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