French ship Pluton (1805)

Taking of the rock Le Diamant, near Martinique, 2 June 1805, by Auguste Étienne François Mayer. The Pluton is depicted in the centre
History
France
Name	Pluton
Namesake	Pluto
Ordered	June 1803
Builder	Toulon
Laid down	August 1803
Launched	17 January 1805
Completed	March 1805
Captured	By Spain at Cadiz on 14 June 1808
Spain
Name	Pluton
Namesake	Pluto
Acquired	14 June 1808
Renamed	Montañes
Fate	Broken up in 1816
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Téméraire-class ship of the line (Pluton sub-class)
Displacement	2,900 tonnes
Length	54.90 metres (180.1 ft) (169 pied) gundeck 53.97 metres (177.1 ft) (166 pied 2 pouces) keel
Beam	14.29 metres (46 ft 11 in) (44 pied)
Draught	6.72 metres (22.0 ft) (20 pied 8 pouces)
Propulsion	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Complement	12 officers + 693 men
Armament	74 guns Lower deck 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper deck 30 × 24-pounder long guns Quarter deck 10 × 8-pounder long guns Quarter deck 4 × 36-pounder carronades Forecastle 6 × 8-pounder long guns

Pluton was a Téméraire class 74-gun French ship of the line built at Toulon. She was one of two prototypes for a derivative sub-class of the original design; this sub-class (slightly smaller than the primary design) was specially intended for construction in some of the shipyards in states occupied by the French, where there was less depth of water than in the main French shipyards. Although the Pluton (and her sister, the Borée) were built at Toulon, all other vessels of this sub-class were built in these overseas yards, notably at Antwerp but also at Genoa, Trieste, Venice, Amsterdam, Flushing and Rotterdam.

The Pluton took part in the Battle of Trafalgar under Captain Julien Cosmao-Kerjulien, and escaped to Cádiz with other ships. Two days later, on 23 October 1805, she was the flagship of the counter-attack from Cádiz, together with Indomptable, Neptune, Rayo and San Francisco de Asis. They managed to recapture the Santa Ana and Algésiras. To prevent their recapture, the British scuttled the Intrépide and Neptuno. Rayo and San Francisco de Asis were wrecked on their journey back.

She was captured by Spain in Cadiz on 14 June 1808 and commissioned in the Spanish Navy as Pluton. She was renamed Montañes on 20 April 1810, and was eventually broken up in 1816.

• List of ships of the line of France

• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671–1870. Roche. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
• Winfield, Rif & Roberts, Stephen S. French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing, 2015. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.