French ship Viala (1795)
Viala was a 74-gun of the French Navy launched in 1795. The Royal Navy captured her in 1806 and sold her in 1814. French service. Between 1794 and 1795, the French successively named her "Viala" (in honour of Joseph Agricol Viala), "Voltaire" (in honour of François-Marie Arouet), and "Constitution" (after the Constitution of the National Convention). In the winter of 1796-1797, she took part in the Expédition d'Irlande. She managed to reach Bantry Bay, where she was damaged in a collision with "Révolution". In 1802, she was recommissioned in Toulon, under Captain Faure . In 1803, she was renamed again to "Jupiter", and joined Vice-Admiral Corentin Urbain Leissègues's squadron bound for Santo Domingo, under Captain Laignel. , while serving in a Royal Navy squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Duckworth, captured her at the Battle of San Domingo (6 February 1806). In the battle, "Jupiter" lost some 200 men killed and wounded; "Donegal" had 12 men killed and 33 wounded. British service. "Jupiter" arrived in Portsmouth on 6 May 1806. The Royal Navy then commissioned her as "Maida", in honour of the Battle of Maida, the name "Jupiter" being already used for  the 50-gun fourth rate . She was commissioned in February 1807 under Captain Samuel Hood Linzee. "Maida" was one of the vessels at the Second Battle of Copenhagen. There she landed a party of seamen who manned the breaching battery before the city. Because she was one of the vessels present at the seizure of the Danish fleet on 7 September, her officers and crew were entitled to share in the prize money. By the end of the year she was back in Portsmouth. On 26 October 1807, Tsar Alexander I of Russia declared war on Great Britain. The official  news did not arrive there until 2 December, at which time the British declared an embargo on all Russian vessels in British ports. "Maida" was one of some 70 vessels that shared in the proceeds of the seizure of the 44-gun Russian frigate "Speshnoy" ("Speshnyy"), and the Russian storeship "Wilhelmina" (or "Vilghemina") then in Portsmouth harbour. The Russian vessels were carrying the payroll for Vice-Admiral Dmitry Senyavin’s squadron in the Mediterranean. "Maida" was paid off at Portsmouth on 9 March 1808 and placed into ordinary. In 1813 she came under the command of Captain John Hayes. She  remained in ordinary, i.e., she was not recommissioned, but served as flagship at Portsmouth to Rear-Admiral Edward Griffith Colpoys. Fate. On 25 July 1814 the Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy put her up for sale. The conditions of sale included that the purchaser was to give a bond, with two sureties for £3000, that they would not sell or otherwise dispose of the ship but that they would break her up within twelve months from the date of sale. She was sold on 11 August 1814 for £4,700. Notes, citations, and references. Notes  Citations References