A combined sword and pistol. The hilt is a flintlock pistol of which the butt is missing and the hammer is broken. The straight blade has one wide groove and a narrow groove near the back to within 6.5 inches of the point, which is a double edged spear point. The scabbard is missing.

This remarkable object was seized by the Welsh marine Lewis Rotely during the action of 18 June 1793. The British frigate 'Nymphe' defeated and captured the French ship 'Cléopâtre' off the coast of Devon, a victory widely celebrated in Britain. It is believed this was one of a number of weapons taken by Rotely from the captured vessel, though this is the only item in the NMM's collections that has been positively identified.

The combined pistol and sword is a very unusual object. Its practical use is questionable, being difficult to wield and harder still to load. It is perhaps an example of the inventive spirit that emerged in the aftermath of the French Revolution. The French navy was in many ways ahead of its British rival when it came to innovation - its experiments with lightning conductors on board its ships in the same period are another example of this (see REL0295, the masthead of the French vessel 'L'Orient' for more details). Rotely likely collected this object as an interesting curiosity, but there is no evidence that the British attempted to copy its design.

Rotely continued to serve in the Royal Navy during the Revolutionary and Napoelonic Wars. At the Battle of Trafalgar he served as a Marine Lieutenant on board the 'Victory', where he witnessed a barshot from the Spanish ship 'Santisima Trinidada' kill eight of his fellow marines. After the battle he retrieved this piece of ordnance (KTP1079), later presenting it to a friend, who in turn gave it to Queen Victoria in 1872. Rotely also had the presence of mind to salvage Nelson's breeches and bloodied stockings from 'Victory's' cockpit, and his daughter bequeathed these items to Greenwich Hospital in 1896 (UNI0021, UNI0067). A fascinating autobiographical account of Rotely's career can be found in the collections of the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth.