HMS Tonnant ( 1798 ) HMS " Tonnant ( French language : " Thundering " ) was an 80 - gun ship of the line of the Royal Navy . She had previously been the Tonnant " of the French Navy and the lead ship of the " Tonnant " class . Rear - Admiral Horatio Nelson captured her at Aboukir Bay off the coast of Egypt at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798 . She was taken into British service as HMS " Tonnant " . She went on to fight at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 , during the Napoleonic Wars . " Tonnant " was the flagship of Vice - Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane during most of the campaign in the Chesapeake Bay during the simultaneous War of 1812 with the United States . On 13 – 14 September 1814 Francis Scott Key and John Stuart Skinner were dining aboard the ship after negotiations to release some captured prisoners , during the Battle of Baltimore . Key went on to write what later became the words to the American national anthem , The Star Spangled Banner after watching the British attack on Baltimore ' s Fort McHenry . " Tonnant " was broken up in 1821 . French service . " Tonnant " fought in the battles of Genoa on 14 March 1795 and The Nile on 1 August 1798 under Aristide Aubert Du Petit Thouars . During the battle , she severely damaged , causing nearly two hundred casualties , including 50 killed and 143 wounded . Among the dead was " Majestic " s captain , George Blagdon Westcott . Du Petit - Thouars , who had both legs and an arm shot off , commanded his ship until he died . " Tonnant " was the only French ship still engaged in the morning , with her colours flying , though aground . It was not until 3 August that she finally struck her colours . The British took her into their service , registering and naming her as HMS " Tonnant " on 9 December 1798 . She arrived at the naval base at Plymouth , England on 17 July 1799 . Even before she formally entered British service , she was among the vessels that participated in the capture of the Greek vessel " Ardito " on 24 October 1798 . " Tonnant " was commissioned under Captain Loftus Bland in January 1799 , with Captain Robert Fitzgerald taking over in February . He sailed her to Gibraltar and then back to Britain . Upon her arrival in Plymouth in 1800 she was laid up in ordinary . British service . Napoleonic Wars . " Tonnant " underwent repairs between December 1801 and April 1803 . She was commissioned in March 1803 under Captain Sir Edward Pellew . Under his command she participated in the Blockade of Ferrol . On 24 May the cutter " Resolution " captured the " Esperance " and the " Vigilant " , with the " Tonnant " sharing in the capture . Next , " Tonnant " , and captured the Dutch ships " Coffee Baum " and " Maasulys " on 2 and 4 June . " Tonnant " then was one of the vessels that shared in the recapture on 27 August of the " Lord Nelson " . " Tonant " was part of Rear - Admiral Sir Robert Calder ' s squadron off Cape Ortegal when she encountered the French ships " Duguay - Trouin " and " Guerrière " on 2 September 1803 . The two French Navy warships had broken out of the blockade when they met " Tonnant " . They escaped her but British naval forces of varying strengths harried them during their journey back to port and they only just made it to the safety of A Coruña . " Tonnant " shared in the capture of the " Perseverance " on 28 October , though the prize money was much less . Then on 29 November , destroyed the " Bayonnoise " ; " Tonnant " was among the vessels sharing , by agreement , in the bounty money . In the new year , on 18 February 1804 , " Tonnant " and the ships of the squadron recaptured the brig " Eliza " . Later in 1804 " Tonnant " was in the Channel under Captain William Henry Jervis . Unfortunately he drowned off Brest when going in his gig from " Tonnant " to the on 26 January 1805 . Jervis had just arrived from Rochefort and was anxious to impart his intelligence to the commander - in - chief . Captain Charles Tyler replaced Jervis in March . During the Battle of Trafalgar ( 21 October 1805 ) she captured the French ship " Algésiras " of 74 guns . She lost 27 officers and men killed and 55 officers and men wounded in the battle , with Tyler being among the wounded . " Tonnant " underwent a refit at Portsmouth between January and June 1806 . She was recommissioned in May under Captain Thomas Browne . She then served as flagship for Rear - Admiral Eliab Harvey . While under his command distinguished herself in a number of small cutting out expeditions . In July 1807 she was under Captain Richard Hancock and served as flagship for Rear - Admiral Michael de Courcy . In April 1809 she was under the command of Captain James Bowen when she recaptured the " Ann of Leith " on the 8th . " Tonnant " then was among the vessels sharing in the captures of the " Goede Hoop " 9 July and the " Carl Ludwig " on 2 August . Between November and December 1809 she was under repair at Plymouth . In 1810 she served under Captain Sir John Gore . On 24 March 1812 , still under the command of Gore , she was off Ushant when she captured the French privateer " Emilie " . " Emilie " was armed with twelve 10 - pounder guns and had a crew of 84 men . She was nine days out of Saint - Malo and had captured one vessel , a Spanish merchant ship that the Royal Navy had recaptured on the 24th . At the time that she captured " Emilie " " Tonnant " was in company with , , , and . Then on 18 April " Tonnant " captured the " Martha " . On 12 May , captured the " Betsy " . " Abercrombie " was in company with " Tonnant " , , " Queen " , and . " Tonnant " then again underwent repair between August and December 1812 , this time at Chatham . War of 1812 . " Tonnant " joined the War of 1812 late . She was fitted for sea in the first quarter of 1814 , being recommissioned in January under Captain Alexander Skene . In October Captain Charles Kerr assumed command as " Tonnant " served as the flagship for Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane during most of the campaign in Chesapeake Bay . From her he directed attacks on Washington , D . C . and Baltimore . " Star Spangled Banner " . It was aboard " Tonnant " that the Americans , Colonel John Stuart Skinner and Francis Scott Key dined with Vice Admiral Cochrane , Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn and Major General Robert Ross , where they negotiated the release of a prisoner , Dr . William Beanes . After his release , Skinner , Key and Beanes were allowed to return to their own sloop , but were not allowed to return to Baltimore because they had become familiar with the strength and position of British units and knew of the British intention to attack Baltimore . As a result , Key witnessed the bombarding of Fort McHenry and was inspired to write a poem called " The Defense of Ft . McHenry " , later named " The Star Spangled Banner " . During the bombardment , provided the " rockets red glare " whilst " Meteor " provided at least some of the " bombs bursting in air " that feature in the lyrics . The body of Major General Robert Ross . After Major General Robert Ross ' death in the Battle of North Point , his body was stored in a barrel of 129 gallons ( 586 l ) of Jamaican rum aboard " Tonnant " . When she was diverted to New Orleans for the forthcoming battle ( see above ) , the body was later shipped on the British ship to Halifax , Nova Scotia where his body was interred on 29 September 1814 in the Old Burying Ground . New Orleans . " Tonnant " continued to serve Cochrane as a flagship when he directed the British naval forces at the Battle of New Orleans . Immediately before the battle , boats from " Tonnant " participated in the British victory at the Battle of Lake Borgne . On 8 December 1814 , two US gunboat s fired on , and the sixth - rate frigate while they were passing the chain of small islands that runs parallel to the shore between Mobile and Lake Borgne . Between 12 and 15 December 1814 , Captain Lockyer of led a flotilla of some 50 boats , barges , gigs and launches to attack the US gunboats . Lockyer drew his flotilla from the fleet that was massing against New Orleans , including the 74 - gun Third Rates and " Tonnant " , and a number of other vessels including " Armide " , " Seahorse " , and " Meteor " . Lockyer deployed the boats in three divisions , of which he led one . Captain Montresor of the gun - brig " Manly " commanded the second , and Captain Roberts of " Meteor " commanded the third . After rowing for 36 hours , the British met the Americans at St . Joseph ' s Island . On 13 December 1814 , the British attacked the one - gun schooner USS " Sea Horse " . On the morning of the 14th , the British engaged the Americans in a short , violent battle . The British captured or destroyed almost the entire American force , including the tender , USS " Alligator " , and five gunboats . The British lost 17 men killed and 77 wounded ; " Tonnant " had three men killed and 15 wounded , one of whom died later . then evacuated the wounded . In 1821 the survivors of the flotilla shared in the distribution of head - money arising from the capture of the American gun - boats and sundry bales of cotton . In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp " 14 Dec Boat Service 1814 " to 205 survivors ( from all the participating boats ) . " Tonnant " was off New Orleans in January 1815 , and in the vicinity of the attack on Fort Bowyer in February 1814 . She left the anchorage off Mobile Bay on the 18th February and arrived in Havana on 24 February 1815 , accompanied by the and the " Vengeur " . Post - war and fate . " Tonnant " returned to England in May 1815 . She then served as the flagship for Admiral Lord Keith when she took part in the exiling of Napoleon to St . Helena in 1815 , though she was not part of the flotilla that took him there . Captain John Tailour assumed command in November . From 1816 to 1817 she was the Flagship of Rear - Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell on the Cork station . " Tonnant " was paid off into ordinary in November 1818 . She was broken up at Plymouth in March 1821 .