French ship Neptune ( 1803 ) Neptune was a " Bucentaure " - class 80 - gun ship of the line of the French Navy . Built during the last years of the French Revolutionary Wars she was launched at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars . Her brief career with the French included several major battles , though she spent the last 12 years of her life under the Spanish flag . " Neptune " was built at Toulon and launched in 1803 . She was commissioned in time to join an abortive attempt to break the British blockade of the port in October 1804 , but the fleet was forced back to port by bad weather . She sailed again with the fleet , under Vice - Admiral Pierre - Charles Villeneuve , in early 1805 , and this time succeeded in breaking out of the Mediterranean , and sailing to the West Indies , where the fleet was joined by Spanish ships . After achieving little in the Caribbean , the fleet sailed back to Europe , where they were engaged by a British fleet in the Battle of Cape Finisterre . " Neptune " saw little action , and was relatively unscathed . She took part in the final fleet manoeuvres , and ended up blockaded in Cadiz by a British fleet under Lord Nelson . Villeneuve came out of Cadiz in late 1805 , and was engaged by Nelson in the decisive Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October . During the battle " Neptune " fired on Nelson ' s flagship , , and duelled with several British ships including , and . As the British began to overwhelm the combined fleet , the relatively undamaged " Neptune " joined several ships in a retreat to Cadiz . She sortied again two days later in an attempt to recover some of the prizes , but the fleet lost more ships than they regained , and " Neptune " had to be towed back to harbour . There she remained , under a close British blockade , until the Spanish declared war on the French . Trapped in the port , the French handed their ships over to the Spanish , who renamed " Neptune " " Neptuno " , replacing a Spanish ship lost at Trafalgar . " Neptuno " served with the Spanish for a further 12 years , being broken up in 1820 . Construction and commissioning . " Neptune " was built at Toulon to a design by Jacques - Noël Sané , with her keel laid down in 1801 . One of Sané ' s 80 - gun " Bucentaure " - class , her lines were virtually identical to those of her contemporaries " Bucentaure " , " Indomptable " and " Formidable " , all of which fought at Trafalgar . She was also similar to another Trafalgar combatant , the 80 - gun , which had previously been a French warship . She was still under construction on the resumption of the war in 1803 after the Peace of Amiens , but was launched later that year . She was fitted out with masts , yards and rigging , and in late 1804 she was commissioned under Commodore Esprit - Tranquille Maistral . Trafalgar campaign . " Neptune " joined the rest of the Toulon fleet preparing to sail for the West Indies on 21 October 1804 under the command of Vice - Admiral Pierre - Charles Villeneuve . The fleet was to transport 6 , 500 troops to attack British possessions in the Caribbean , but was unable to leave Toulon owing to the presence of a British fleet under Vice - Admiral Horatio Nelson , that was blockading the port . It was not until early January that Villeneuve judged the situation favourable enough to make a sortie . " Neptune " sailed with the 20 - strong fleet on 17 January , but were sighted by the patrolling frigates of Nelson ' s inshore squadron . Villeneuve struggled on , but bad weather in the Gulf of Lyons dispersed his fleet , and fearing an attack on his disorganised forces , returned to Toulon three days after setting out . Villeneuve had in fact managed to give Nelson the slip . The two patrolling frigates , and , had rushed to report the news to Nelson , anchored at La Maddalena , and in so doing , left the French unobserved . Nelson had rushed his fleet to sea , anticipating that Villeneuve would heading east . Nelson spent nearly six weeks sailing back and forth across the Mediterranean through heavy seas while the French remained in port , before news finally reached him of Villeneuve ' s location . It was not until March that the French made another attempt to break out of Toulon , putting to sea on 29 March . " Neptune " formed part of Villeneuve ' s division , consisting of the flagship , the 80 - gun " Bucentaure " , and the 74 - gun ships " Pluton " , " Mont - Blanc " , " Berwick " and " Atlas " . The other division was commanded by Rear - Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley , flying his flag aboard the 80 - gun " Formidable " , and accompanied by the 80 - gun " Indomptable " , and the 74 - gun ships " Swiftsure " , " Scipion " and " Intrépide " . Accompanying the fleet were six frigates and two brigs . The French fleet reached Cartagena on 6 April , having evaded Nelson through sheer chance , and pressed on from there , sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar on 8 April . After resupplying briefly at Cadiz , the fleet sailed to the West Indies , arriving at Fort de France , Martinique on 14 May , where they were joined over the next two days by six Spanish ships of the line and a frigate under Frederico Gravina . The fleets resupplied and settled in to await the arrival of a large French fleet from Brest under Vice - Admiral Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume . Unbeknownst to Villeneuve , Ganteaume was still being blockaded in Brest . The combined fleet achieved little while in the West Indies , managing only to capture the British - held Diamond Rock after two weeks of sitting idle at anchor . The small garrison surrendered on 2 June , by which time the frigate " Didon " had arrived with orders . Villeneuve was instructed to attack and capture the British colonies in the West Indies , before sailing his entire force back to Europe , join Ganteaume at Brest and cover the invasion flotilla . Villeneuve gathered his forces and pressed northwards towards Antigua , but on 7 June he came across a lightly defended convoy of British merchants , and captured several of them the following day . From them he discovered that Nelson was in hot pursuit , and had arrived at Barbados . Villeneuve decided to break off operations and return to Europe . The fleet got underway on 11 June . Finisterre and Cadiz . Villeneuve managed to evade Nelson on the return voyage , though his fleet was tracked by the brig , carrying Nelson ' s despatches . The Admiralty was notified and a reinforced fleet under Vice - Admiral Robert Calder was sent to intercept the Franco - Spanish fleet as it arrived in European waters . The combined fleet was spotted on 22 July as it sailed westwards towards Ferrol , and Calder manoeuvred to intercept it . Villeneuve formed up the line of battle , with " Neptune " being eleventh from the front , positioned astern of the " Berwick " and ahead of the " Bucentaure " . " Neptune " saw little action in the confused fighting , and consequently escaped with little damage . She joined the fleet in entering Vigo Bay on 28 July , and went into Ferrol on 2 August . " Neptune " sailed with the rest of the fleet on 9 August , and put into Cadiz on 20 August . After spending several months there , watched by the blockading British fleet under Nelson , Villeneuve decided to put to sea in mid - October . Maistral prepared " Neptune " for sea , and the fleet sailed from Cadiz on 19 October . While in Cadiz Villeneuve had described " Neptune " as being ' In every respect one of the finest and most seaworthy ships of the Fleet . ' As the British approached on the morning of 21 October , Villeneuve formed the line of battle heading northwards , with " Neptune " the twelfth in the line from the lead ship of the van . She was ahead of the flagship , " Bucentaure " , on her larboard quarter , and astern on the larboard quarter was the 74 - gun " Redoutable " . Trafalgar . " Neptune " entered the battle about 25 minutes after the start of the action , having by then drifted to leeward and fallen astern of " Redoutable " . " Neptune " should have had the position immediately astern of " Bucentaure " , but the Spanish 74 - gun " San Justo " , which should have been four places astern of " Neptune " had drifted up to leeward . Maistral hailed " San Justo " The " San Justo " not being in her station and edging down to place herself on my windward beam hampered me ; I at once hailed her to enquire " if she knew her station " ; I told her that mine was to be next astern to the " Bucentaure " ; she replied that she was about to place herself astern of me , " which she did not do " , and continued to to the wind and to fore - reach on me , which made me fall off a little to leeward and to draw away from the flag - ship , of whom I had been within hail in the first place . " San Justo " s captain , Francisco Javier Garstón , blamed the crew ' s inexperience for failing to keep her station . This would be significant in the coming battle as the position astern of the flagship would be the focus of British attention , and should have been occupied by a powerful ship like the " Neptune " . Meanwhile the ship that should have been astern of " Neptune " , the Spanish 64 - gun " San Leandro " , was following " San Justo " to leeward , leaving a considerable gap behind the flagship that the British could exploit . " Redoutable " s captain , Jean Jacques Étienne Lucas , saw the threat , and brought his ship forward in an attempt to close the gap . Despite his efforts , the British were able to break the line between " Bucentaure " and " Redoubtable " . As the battle started Nelson ' s flagship , broke the line ahead of " Neptune " , passing by and raking " Bucentaure " . As " Victory " passed by " Neptune " fired into her with a broadside from her larboard battery , damaging " Victory " s foremast , bowsprit , spritsail yards , her forward hull and her anchors . Maistral then ordered " Neptune " s jib run up , to move her out of " Victory " s range . She briefly engaged at long range , and then wore back to support Villeneuve . Standing someway off to leeward " Neptune " s gunners reloaded , and then opened fire with a broadside into as the British ship came up through the gap created by " Victory " s passage . The broadsides cut " Temeraire " s rigging , brought down her foreyard and main topmast , and damaged her fore mast and bowsprit . By now unmanageable , " Temeraire " came under fire from the " San Justo " , lying just astern of " Neptune " . Leaving " Temeraire " , and declining combat with the newly arrived , Maistral turned eastward , and at 2 . 30 pm came alongside the starboard bow of the 74 - gun . " Belleisle " had become isolated and took the fire of several French ships until British ships were able to come to her rescue . " Neptune " battled briefly with the 64 - gun , and as the British began to overwhelm the Franco - Spanish fleet , she prepared to run for Cadiz , giving supporting fire for the " Principe de Asturias " as the Spanish ship withdrew , before joining the retreat to Cadiz . During the fighting " Neptune " had sustained a relatively minor amount of damage , and had just 15 killed and 39 wounded . Sortie . Having come through the battle relatively unscathed , " Neptune " was able to join the sortie made by Captain Julien Cosmao on 23 October , in an attempt to retake some of the captured prizes . " Neptune " put to sea in company with two French ships , the 80 - gun " Indomptable " and the 74 - gun " Pluton " , and two Spanish ships , the 100 - gun " Rayo " and the 74 - gun " San Francisco de Asis " . Also with the ships of the line were the smaller French ships that had been present at the battle but had not taken part , the frigates " Cornélie " , " Thémis " , " Hortense " , " Rhin " and " Hermione " , and the brigs " Furet " and " Argus " . In preparation for the counter - attack the British cast off several of the prizes and formed a defensive line , allowing the frigates to retake two of the captured prizes , both Spanish ships , the 112 - gun " Santa Ana " and the 80 - gun " Neptuno " . Of the two recaptured ships , only the " Santa Ana " made it back to Cadiz , when the sortieing ships ran into difficulties in the heavy storm that blew up after the battle . The " Neptuno " ran aground and was destroyed , while a similar fate befell both the " Indomptable " , after she grounded off Rota , and the " San Francisco de Asis " , in Cadiz Bay . The " Rayo " attempted to anchor off San Lucar and ride out the storm , but rolled out her masts in the heavy seas . came up , and being unable to resist , " Rayo " surrendered to her , but was driven on shore on 26 October and wrecked . " Neptune " had to be towed back into Cadiz . Blockade and Spanish service . The remains of the French fleet were bottled up in Cadiz under Rear - Admiral Rosily , trapped there by the British blockade . With the Spanish entry to the war against France on 4 July 1808 , Rosily realised that his fleet was in range of now hostile shore batteries . He attempted to move his fleet , consisting of the " Neptune " , the 74 - gun ships " Héros " , " Pluton " , " Algesiras " and " Argonaute " and the 40 - gun frigate " Cornélie " , out of the harbour , but on 9 July the squadron was attacked by Spanish forces from the land and sea . Rosily attempted to negotiate to keep his fleet , but on this being rejected , was forced to surrender it to the Spanish on 14 July . The Spanish took " Neptune " into their service , renaming her " Neptuno " as a replacement for the " Neptuno " lost at Trafalgar , and she served with them until being broken up in 1820 . Notes . a . The smaller ships were the 40 - gun frigates " Cornélie " , " Rhin " , " Hortense " and " Hermione " , the 36 - gun frigates " Sirène " and " Thémis " , and the 18 - gun brigs " Furet " and " Pleiade " .