French ship Diadème (1756)

For other ships of the same name, see French ship Diadème and French ship Brutus.
Career (France)
Name: Diadème
Namesake: Diadem
Ordered: 10 September 1755
Builder: Brest
Laid down: September 1755
Launched: 26 July 1756
Commissioned: November 1756
Decommissioned: 1797
Renamed: Brutus on 29 September 1792
Fate: Broken up, 1797
General characteristics
Class and type:Diadème-class ship of the line
Displacement:1,500 tonnes (1,476 long tons)
Length:54.6 m (179 ft 2 in)
Beam:14.1 m (46 ft 3 in)
Draught:6.8 m (22 ft 4 in)
Propulsion:Sail
Armament:
  • 74 guns:
  • 28 × 36-pounder long guns
  • 30 × 18-pounder long guns
  • 16 × 8-pounder long guns
Armour:Timber

Diadème was the lead ship of the Diadème class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

On 17 March 1757, along with the 64-gun Éveillé, she captured HMS Greenwich, commanded by Captain Robert Roddam, off Saint-Domingue.

In 1780, under Dampierre she was part of La Motte-Piquet's squadron, along with Annibal, Amphion and Réfléchi.

She took part in the naval operations in the American Revolutionary War under de Grasse, notably fighting at the Battle of the Chesapeake.

On 29 September 1792, she was renamed Brutus.

She was razéed down to a 42-gun frigate in May 1794, and took part in the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2 in June,[1] taking the Indomptable in tow.[2][3]

She was eventually broken up in 1797.

References

  1. Leplat, P. (2003). "Histoire de l'ile de Groix et de la famille Gourong". enguerrand.gourong.free.fr. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  2. de Rambaud, Guy (2002). "Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse". histoire-empire.org. Retrieved 18 February 2013.

External links