French ship Achille ( 1803 ) Achille was a 74 - gun French ship of the line built at Rochefort in 1803 after plans by Jacques - Noël Sané . Under the command of Captain Louis Gabriel Deniéport , she sailed at the vanguard of the French Fleet on 20 October 1805 , just before the Battle of Trafalgar , and she was the first Franco - Spanish ship to sight the English fleet , around 6 p . m . The next day , at the Battle of Trafalgar , the Franco - Spanish fleet veered to form a line of battle , and " Achille " found herself at the rear of the line . At the start of the battle she joined , and , in engaging the second ship in the British lee column , . " Belleisle " was soon completely dismasted , unable to manoeuvre and largely unable to fight , as her sails blinded her batteries , but kept flying her flag for 45 minutes until the other British ships behind her in the column came to her rescue . As the surrendered to , Deniéport took advantage of a light wind to attempt to fill the gap in the line . She then found herself trapped between and , losing all of her rigging save for her lower masts . At 1 . 00 p . m , Ensign Arley was killed , followed around 1 . 30 by the first officer , Commander Montalembert . Captain Deniéport had his leg partly shot off at 2 . 30 , and was killed shortly after refusing to leave his station . With most officers incapacitated , command went to Ensign Jouan , who was killed after 15 minutes . He was replaced by Ensign Cauchard . By this time " Achille " was slowly sinking , but still managed to cut off " Dreadnought " s main - mast and fore - mast . At 4 . 00 , joined in . After 15 minutes , a fire broke out in " Achille " s mizzen top . The next broadside against her brought her blazing main mast down , engulfing the ship in flames . Knowing that her opponent ' s fate was sealed , Richard Grindall , the " Prince " s captain , ceased firing and wore round to clear the " Achille " before placing boats in the water to rescue the French seamen , as " Achille " s crew attempted to abandon ship . This proved hazardous as the " Achille " s abandoned but loaded guns were set off by the intense heat now raging below decks . 158 French sailors were saved . The fires eventually reached her magazine and she blew up spectacularly at 5 . 45 p . m . , taking 480 with her , and foundered quickly , her colours high , marking the end of the battle . An officer serving in the wrote : " It was a sight the most awful and grand that can be conceived . In a moment the hull burst into a cloud of smoke and fire . A column of vivid flame shot up to an enormous height in the atmosphere and terminated by expanding into an immense globe , representing for a few seconds , a prodigious tree in flames , specked with many dark spots , which the pieces of timber and bodies of men occasioned while they were suspended in the clouds . " " Achille " in art . She figures on " The Battle of Trafalgar " by J . M . W . Turner . A fine 1 / 33 scale model is on display in Paris at the Musée de la Marine . The rescue of a female member of her crew named Jeannette after the explosion was the inspiration for the coloured engraving " Anecdote At the Battle of Trafalgar " . It was engraved by M Dubourg and coloured by William Heath .