Original British Napoleonic Naval Gunners Freshwater Keg Recovered from HMS Belleisle which Fought at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) Original Items

Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is a tremendous British Naval Gunner’s freshwater keg used on the HMS Belleisle (1795) and recovered from the Royal Naval Dockyard at Portsmouth in 1909. The Belleisle began life as the Lion, a Téméraire class 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the French Navy. She was named Lion on 23 April 1790 and built at Rochefort from August 1791 until June 1794. She was renamed Marat on 28 September 1793 (7 months before being launched) and then Formidable on 25 May 1795, with the changing fortunes of the French Revolution.

Fighting under captain Linois on 23 June 1795 at the Battle of Groix, she was captured by HMS Barfleur near the French port of Lorient. She was taken into service in the Royal Navy, but because the Navy already had a Formidable, she was renamed Belleisle, apparently in the mistaken belief that she had been captured off Belle Île, rather than the Île de Groix.

Captained by William Hargood, she was the second ship in the British lee column at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and as such was engaged by the Franco-Spanish ships Achille, Aigle, Neptune, Fougueux, Santa Ana, Monarca and San Juan Nepomuceno. She was soon completely dismasted (the only British ship which suffered that fate), unable to manœuvre and largely unable to fight, as her sails blinded her batteries, but kept flying her flag for 45 minutes until the British ships behind her in the column came to her rescue. With 33 dead and 93 wounded, she was then towed to Gibraltar after the battle by the frigate HMS Naiad.

Following the concern in Britain that neutral Denmark was entering an alliance with Napoleon, the Belleisle sailed as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Alexander Cochrane, who commanded the squadron of ships that was sent to occupy the Danish West Indies. The squadron, which included HMS Prince George, HMS Northumberland, HMS Canada, HMS Ramillies and HMS Cerberus, captured Telemaco, Carvalho, and Master on 17 April 1807. The actual occupation of the Danish West Indies did not occur until December, after receipt of news of the second battle of Copenhagen.

From 1811 she was in Portsmouth harbor naval storage facility, and in 1814 the decision was taken to have her broken up. It was from the Portsmouth harbor royal storage facility that this keg was recovered in 1909, 95 years later. This sort of keg was used for freshwater not only for drinking, but more so for washing one’s gunpowder covered body during or after a Naval Gunnery action.

The keg measures 12 x 6 x 6” and is reinforced with three brass bands. On one end the keg is branded with a BROAD ARROW over B.O., for the Board of Ordnance. There is a plaque on the middle of the keg reading:

H.M.S. BELLEISLE
BRITISH NAVAL GUNNERS
FRESHWATER KEG
RECOVERED FROM
ROYAL NAVAL DOCKYARD
PORTSMOUTH
J.K. SYKES, 1909

As previously mentioned, this makes sense as the Belleisle was stationed in Portsmouth when she was broken up in 1814. The only notable flaw is that one of the brass bands is a bit loose, but otherwise it’s in great shape, and was likely restored after being recovered in 1909. This is a fantastic piece of British naval history, a gunner’s freshwater keg that was almost certainly present at the legendary Battle of Trafalgar. Comes ready for further research and display!