Téméraire-class ship of the line

Scale model of the Achille, a typical French seventy-four of the Téméraire class at the beginning of the 19th century.
Class overview
Name: Téméraire
Builders: Toulon, Rochefort, Brest, Lorient, Antwerp, Genoa, Amsterdam, Cherbourg, Flushing, Venice
Operators:
Preceded by: Centaure class
Succeeded by: Tonnant class
Subclasses:
  • Téméraire (18 ships)
  • Duquesne (46 ships)
  • Danube (26 ships)
  • Cassard (Large variant - 2 ships)
  • Suffren (Short variant - 3 ships)
  • Pluton (Small variant - 25 ships)
In commission: 1782 (Téméraire)–1862 (Couronne)
Planned: 120
Completed: 107
Cancelled: 13
General characteristics
Type:Ship of the line
Displacement:2,900 tonnes
Length:55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)
Beam:14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in) (44.5 pied)
Draught:7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion:Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Complement:700 men
Armament:

The Téméraire class ships of the line was a class of 120 74-gun ships of the line ordered between 1782 and 1813 for the French navy or its attached navies in dependent (French-occupied) territories. Although a few of these were cancelled, the type was and remains the most numerous class of capital ship ever built.

The class was designed by Jacques-Noël Sané as part of the fleet expansion programme instituted by Jean-Charles de Borda.

The design was appreciated in Britain, which eagerly commissioned captured ships and even copied the design with the Pompée and America class.

Variants from basic design

While all the French 74-gun ships from the mid-1780s until the close of the Napoleonic Wars were to the Téméraire design, there were three variants of the basic design which Sané developed with the same hull form of the Téméraire. In 1793 two ships were laid down at Brest to an enlarged design; in 1801 two ships were commenced at Lorient with a slightly shorter length than the standard design (with a third ship commenced at Brest but never completed); and in 1803 two ships were commenced at Toulon to a smaller version (many more ships to this 'small(er) model' were then built in the shipyards controlled by France in Italy and the Netherlands) - these are detailed separately below.

Ships in class

Téméraire Group (18 ships)

Builder: Brest shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: May 1782
Launched: 17 December 1782
Completed: July 1783
Fate: Condemned, November 1801. Broken up, 1803.
Builder: Lorient shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: July 1782
Launched: 28 October 1784
Completed: 1785
Fate: Condemned, November 1802. Broken up, 1803.
Builder: Brest shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: July 1782
Launched: 11 November 1784
Completed: 1785
Fate: Wrecked off Brest, 30 January 1795.
Builder: Rochefort shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: July 1782
Launched: 21 June 1785
Completed: October 1785
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy at Toulon in August 1793, but retaken by the French in December 1793; captured again by the Royal Navy in February 1800 and served as HMS Généreux. Broken up in 1816.
Builder: Toulon shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: September 1784
Launched: 15 September 1785
Completed: 1786 or 1787
Fate: Destroyed in action at the Battle of the Nile, August 1798.
Builder: Brest shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: December 1784
Launched: 16 September 1785
Completed: 1786
Fate: Surrendered to Spain by her officers at Trinidad in January 1793.
Builder: Lorient shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: August 1782, but work stopped in February 1783 and she was demolished.
Re-laid down: November 1784
Launched: 19 September 1785
Completed: late 1785
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy at Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, and subsequently wrecked.
Builder: Brest shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: September 1784
Launched: 3 October 1785
Completed: April 1786
Fate: Condemned in May 1820 and became Pontoon No.4 in April 1821.[1] Broken up at Rochefort in late 1832.
Builder: Toulon shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: September 1784
Launched: 7 October 1785
Completed: September 1787
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy at Toulon on August 1793, then destroyed during the Siege of Toulon in December 1793.
Builder: Lorient shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: January 1783, but work stopped in February 1783 and she was demolished.
Re-laid down: November 1784
Launched: 17 November 1785
Completed: August 1787
Fate: Broken up at Rochefort, 1803.
Builder: Rochefort shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: October 1784
Launched: 18 April 1787
Completed: 1788
Fate: Condemned 1802, and broken up 1803-04.
Builder: Brest shipyard
Ordered:
Begun: October 1785
Launched: 22 June 1787
Completed: July 1787
Fate: Wrecked and then burnt, February 1793.
Builder: Lorient shipyard
Ordered:
Begun: May 1786
Launched: 11 October 1787
Completed: 1788
Fate: Broken up, 1803.
Builder: Rochefort shipyard
Ordered:
Begun: July 1786
Launched: 25 October 1787
Completed: 1788
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy, 1 June 1794. Accidentally destroyed by fire, 24 August 1794.
Builder: Rochefort shipyard
Ordered:
Begun: April 1787
Launched: 21 May 1788
Completed: 1788
Fate: Broken up, 1798.
Builder: Brest shipyard
Ordered:
Begun: end 1786
Launched: 21 May 1788
Completed: 1789
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy, 1 June 1794, and served as HMS Impétueux. Broken up, 1813.
Builder: Brest shipyard
Ordered:
Begun: End 1786
Launched: 30 October 1788
Completed: July 1790
Fate: Destroyed during the Siege of Toulon, December 1793.
Builder: Rochefort shipyard
Ordered:
Begun: September 1787
Launched: 8 June 1789
Completed: June 1790
Fate: Captured by Britain during the Battle of the Nile on 2 August 1798. Served as HMS Aboukir until broken up in Plymouth in 1802.

Duquesne Group (46 ships)

Builder: Toulon shipyard
Ordered:
Begun: August 1787
Launched: 2 September 1788
Completed: 1789
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy on 24 July 1803, and served as HMS Duquesne. Broken up in 1805.
Builder: Lorient shipyard
Ordered:
Begun: June 1787
Launched: 16 December 1788
Completed: July 1790
Decommissioned: 26 October 1833
Fate: Broken up at Brest, 1841.
Builder: Lorient shipyard
Ordered:
Begun: June 1787
Launched: 15 November 1789
Completed: August 1790
Fate: Broken up in Baltimore, 1816.
Builder: Brest shipyard
Ordered: 19 August 1787
Begun: June 1788
Launched: 4 November 1789
Completed: October 1790
Fate: Broken up in Brest, 1807.
Builder: Brest shipyard
Ordered:
Begun: 23 May 1788
Launched: 16 December 1789
Completed: August 1790
Fate: Ran aground, 12 December 1792. Abandoned, and finally sank, 8 June 1793.
Builder: Lorient shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 7 November 1790
Fate: Wrecked at the Battle of the Basque Roads on 26 February 1809, hull burnt by the British in April.
Builder: Toulon shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 30 July 1790
Fate: Captured by the British at Toulon in August 1793 and burnt by them there in December 1793.
Builder: Rochefort shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 14 April 1790
Fate: Broken up, 1816.
Builder: Rochefort shipyard
Ordered:
Launched:
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy during the Battle of Cape Ortegal, 4 November 1805. Served as HMS Mont Blanc. Used as a gunpowder hulk from 1811, and sold in 1819.
Builder: Brest shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 31 May 1791
Fate: Participated in the Battle of Trafalgar, taken by the British, foundered two days later, 22 October 1805.
Builder: Lorient shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 1791
Fate: Burnt by the Royal Navy at the Siege of Toulon, 18 December 1793.
Builder: Lorient shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 24 January 1792
Fate: Decommissioned, June 1802. Broken up, 1805.
Builder: Brest
Ordered:
Launched: 1794
Fate: Grounded and burnt at the Battle of the Basque Roads, April 1809
Builder: Toulon shipyard
Ordered:
Launched:28 May 1791
Fate: Captured at Toulon by the Royal Navy, 29 August 1793. Served as HMS Pompee. Converted to prison hulk at Portsmouth, 1816. Broken up, January 1817.
Builder: Brest
Ordered:
Launched: 8 May 1793
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy during the Battle of Groix, 23 June 1795. Served as HMS Tigre. Broken up, June 1817.
Builder: Lorient
Ordered:
Launched: 1793
Fate: Wrecked at Saint-Domingue, January 1802.
Builder:
Ordered:
Launched:
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy on 12 October 1798. Served as HMS Donegal. Broken up, 1845.
Battle between the French warship Droits de l'Homme and the British frigates Amazon and Indefatigable, 13 & 14 January 1797. (Indefatigable on the left, Droits de l'Homme at the centre, Amazon on the right.)
Builder: Lorient shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 29 May 1794
Fate: Driven ashore by HMS Amazon and Indefatigable and wrecked on 14 January 1797.
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Launched: 22 January 1794
Fate: Decommissioned, May 1820.
Builder: Rochefort shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 29 April 1794
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy at the Battle of Groix, 23 June 1795, served as HMS Belleisle. Broken up in 1814.
Builder: Lorient
Ordered: 3 July 1793
Launched: 1794
Fate: Scrapped, 1808.
Builder: Lorient
Ordered: 16 February 1793
Launched: 2 May 1795
Fate: Captured by HMS Donegal during the Battle of San Domingo, 6 February 1806. Foundered, 12 April 1806.
Builder: Toulon
Ordered:
Launched: 21 July 1795
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy in the Action of 13 March 1806, and served as HMS Marengo until broken up 1816.
Builder: Lorient
Ordered:
Launched: 1795
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy during the Battle of San Domingo, 6 February 1806, and served as HMS Maida. Sold for breaking up, 1814.
Fight of the Poursuivante against the British ship HMS Hercules, 28 June 1803.
Builder: Lorient
Ordered:
Launched: 5 December 1797
Fate: Captured by HMS Mars during the Battle of the Raz de Sein on 21 April 1798, and served as HMS Hercules. Broken up in December 1810.
Builder: Toulon
Ordered:
Launched: 1797
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy during the Battle of the Nile, 2 August 1798. Served as HMS Spartiate. Broken up, 1857.
Builder: Lorient
Ordered:
Launched: 22 December 1798
Fate: Exchanged with Spain, 1806.
Builder: Lorient
Ordered:
Launched: 1 February 1798
Fate: Destroyed by accidental fire before being commissioned.
Builder: Lorient
Ordered: 31 May 1798
Begun: August 1798
Launched: 24 January 1803
Completed: March 1803
Fate: Beached and set ablaze by the British in the Chesapeake, 14 September 1806.
Builder: Lorient
Ordered:
Launched: 1799
Fate: Ran aground and wrecked during the Battle of San Domingo, 6 February 1806. Burnt by the Royal Navy, 8 February 1806.
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Launched: 1800
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy at Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. Retaken by her crew on 22 October 1805, but sank in a heavy storm the next day.
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Launched: 24 March 1800
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy in the Battle of Cape Ortegal, 4 November 1805, and served as HMS Implacable. Renamed HMS Foudroyant, 1943. Scuttled, 2 December 1949.
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Launched: 1801
Fate: Captured by Spain at Cadiz, June 1808.
Builder: Lorient
Ordered:
Launched: 1798
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy at the Battle of Cape Ortegal, 4 November 1805. Served as HMS Scipion until broken up in January 1819.
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Launched: 18 August 1803
Fate: Decommissioned, 1816.
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Launched: November 1804
Fate: Sunk at the battle of Trafalgar, 22 October 1805.
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Launched: 12 January 1804
Fate: Ran aground and burnt, 26 October 1809.
Builder: Lorient
Ordered:
Launched: 12 April 1805
Fate: Burnt by crew to avoid capture, 7 April 1814.
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Launched: 17 June 1806
Fate: Decommissioned, 1816.
Builder: Lorient
Ordered:
Launched: 3 February 1806
Fate: Broken up, 1831.
Builder: Lorient
Ordered:
Launched: 2 September 1807
Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy on 17 April 1809 during Troude's expedition to the Caribbean. Served as HMS Abercrombie. Sold, 1817.
Builder:
Ordered:
Launched: ?
Fate: ?
Stern of a model of the Triomphant
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Launched: 1809
Fate: Hulked, 1828.

Danube Group (26 ships)

Builder: Lorient
Ordered:
Begun: August 1805
Launched: 25 May 1808
Completed: October 1808
Fate: Broken up at Brest, 1825.
Builder: Brest
Ordered:
Begun: 16 April 1794
Launched: 9 June 1808
Completed: September 1808
Fate: Wrecked during the Battle of the Basque Roads on 12 April 1809, and burned by her crew to avoid capture.
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:1804
Launched:1809
Fate: Converted to a pontoon, 1828.[1]
Builder: Toulon
Ordered:
Begun: June 1807
Launched: 27 December 1808
Completed: August 1809
Fate: Converted to a pontoon, 1828.[1]
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Launched: 25 May 1809
Fate: Converted to a pontoon, 1822.[1]
Builder: Lorient
Ordered:
Launched: 8 December 1809
Fate: Wrecked off Brest, 23 March 1814.
Builder: Brest
Ordered:
Launched: 1810
Fate: Struck, 1849
Builder: Lorient
Ordered:
Launched: 12 October 1810
Fate: Struck, 21 July 1858. Prison hulk from 1860 to 1865. Broken up in 1873.
Builder: Toulon
Ordered:
Launched: 9 June 1811
Fate: Struck, 24 November 1857. Used as a barracks hulk from 1857 to 1869. Broken up in 1879.
Builder: Antwerp
Ordered:
Launched: 1811
Fate: Struck, 1826.
Builder: Genoa
Ordered:
Launched: 1812
Fate: Converted to a pontoon, 1836.[1]
Builder: Antwerp
Ordered:
Launched: 1812
Fate: Converted to a pontoon, 1826.[1] Broken up, 1831.
Builder: Toulon
Ordered:
Launched: 1812
Fate: Broken up, 1840.
Builder: Toulon
Ordered:
Launched: 15 August 1812
Fate: Struck, 22 June 1858, and used as a barracks hulk. Broken up in Toulon, 1877.
Builder: Genoa
Ordered:
Launched: 1813
Fate: Struck, 1846.
Builder: Brest
Ordered:
Launched: 1813
Fate: Scrapped, 1841.
Builder: Cherbourg
Ordered:
Launched: 1813
Fate: Struck, and used as a floating magazine from 1824.
Builder: Toulon
Ordered:
Launched: 5 December 1812
Fate: Struck, 1831. Broken up, 1840.
Builder: Antwerp
Ordered:
Begun: December 1808
Launched: 5 July 1814
Completed: September 1814
Fate: Lost, 1833.
Builder: Genoa
Ordered:
Begun: February 1812. Captured by the British, 18 April 1814.
Launched: 18 April 1815 for the British Navy as HMS Genoa
Completed: 1815
Fate: Broken up at Plymouth, 1838.
Builder: Toulon
Ordered:
Begun: September 1812
Launched: 26 May 1815
Completed: August 1815
Fate: Struck, 31 December 1855, and used as a hospital ship. Broken up, 1881.
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Begun: January 1812
Launched: 18 June 1818
Completed: July 1818
Fate: Razeed to 58-gun frigate during 1831-34. Struck, and converted to a pontoon, 1853.[1] Broken up, 1874.
Builder: Lorient-Caudan
Ordered:
Begun: July 1811
Launched: 25 August 1820
Completed: December 1820
Fate: Broken up, 1833
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Begun: April 1813
Launched: 22 September 1823
Completed: December 1824
Fate: Converted to a pontoon, 1852.[1] Broken up, 1870.
Builder: Brest
Ordered:
Begun: October 1813
Launched: 26 August 1824
Completed: 1825
Fate: Broken up, 1870.
Builder: Cherbourg
Ordered:
Begun: July 1813
Launched: 23 September 1831
Completed: 1832
Fate: Broken up, 1865.

Three further ships to this design were begun at Castellammare di Stabia for the "puppet" Neapolitan Navy of Joachim Murat:

Begun: end 1808
Launched: 21 August 1810
Completed: January 1812
Fate: Out of service 1847, and broken up.
Begun: September 1810
Launched: 1 August 1812
Completed: May 1813
Fate: Damaged by fire, 10 May 1820. Sold for breaking up, 1821.

Large Variant (Cassard group - 2 ships launched)

Two ships were laid down in 1793-94 at Brest to a variant of Sané's design with the aim of carrying 24-pounder guns on the upper deck instead of the 18-pounders carried by the Téméraire. These ships were 2 feet longer than the standard 74s, and half a foot wider. The first was begun as the Lion, but was renamed Glorieux in 1795 and Cassard in 1798. The second was begun as the Magnanime, but was renamed Quatorze Juillet in 1798 and Vétéran in 1802. Unlike the main sequence, construction proceeded slowly. By 1816 the 24-pounders aboard these two ships had been replaced by 18-pounders, and no further ships to this variant design were produced, so indicating that it was not judged successful.

Builder: Brest shipyard
Begun: November 1794
Launched: 18 July 1803
Completed: December 1803
Fate: Condemned, 1833.
Builder: Brest shipyard
Begun: August 1793
Launched: 24 September 1803
Completed: December 1803
Fate: Condemned, 1818.

Short Variant (Suffren group - 2 ships launched)

Two ships were begun in 1801 to a variation of the standard Téméraire design by Sané to meet the demands of Pierre-Alexandre Forfait. The length of these ships were reduced by 65 cm from the standard design. A third ship to this variant design begun at Brest was cancelled in 1804. After Forfait left the Ministry of the Marine in October 1801, no further vessels were ordered to this variant design.

Builder: Lorient shipyard
Begun: August 1801
Launched: 17 September 1803
Completed: October 1803
Fate: Condemned, 1815.
Builder: Lorient shipyard
Begun: August 1801
Launched: 8 July 1804
Completed: September 1804
Fate: Captured by the British at Trafalgar in 1805, but retaken. Captured by Spain at Cadiz, June 1808.
Builder: Brest shipyard
Begun: May 1801
Launched: Never launched
Completed: -
Fate: Cancelled, February 1804.

Small Variant (Pluton group - 24 ships launched)

Rivoli, fitted with the camels that allowed her to cross the shallow banks before Venice harbour.

Starting with the prototypes Pluton and Borée in 1803, a smaller version of the Téméraire class, officially named petit modèle, was designed by Jacques-Noël Sané to be produced in shipyards having a lesser depth of water than the principal French shipyards, primarily those in neighbouring states under French control and in foreign ports which had been absorbed into the French Empire such as Antwerp. The revised design measured 177 feet 7 inches on the waterline, 180 feet 1 inch on the deck, and 46 feet 11 inches moulded breadth. The depth of hull was 9 inches less than that in the "regular" Téméraire design.

Builder: Toulon shipyard
Ordered: June 1803
Laid down: August 1803
Launched: 17 January 1805
Completed: March 1805.
Fate: Captured by the Spanish at Cadiz in June 1808.
Builder: Toulon shipyard
Ordered: June 1803
Laid down: August 1803
Launched: 27 June 1805
Completed: August 1805
Fate: Condemned at Toulon in 1827.
Builder: Genoa shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: July 1803
Launched: 17 August 1805
Completed: November 1805
Fate: Condemned at Rochefort in August 1821, and broken up there by October 1821.
Builder: Flushing shipyard
Ordered:
Launched:
Fate: Captured on the stocks after the fall of Flushing during the Walcheren Campaign in 1809. Frames taken to England, where she was assembled and launched as HMS Chatham in 1812.
Builder: Antwerp shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: November 1803
Launched: 9 April 1807
Completed: March 1808
Fate: Condemned at Brest in February 1819, and broken up there in December 1819.
Builder: Antwerp shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: April 1804
Launched: 8 April 1807
Completed: March 1808
Fate: Ceded to the new Dutch Navy, 1 August 1814, renamed Nassau.
Builder: Antwerp shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: June 1804
Launched: 7 June 1807
Completed: March 1808
Fate: Condemned at Brest in February 1819 and broken up there in December 1819.
Builder: Antwerp shipyard
Ordered:
Laid down: July 1804
Launched: 20 June 1807
Completed: March 1808
Fate: Condemned at Lorient in June 1818, and broken up there in January 1820.
Builder: Antwerp shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 1807
Fate:
Builder: Antwerp shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 1807
Fate: Condemned 1819, hulked.
Builder: Antwerp shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 1807
Fate:
Builder: Antwerp shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 1807
Fate: Struck, 1815.
Builder: Antwerp shipyard
Ordered:
Begun: April 1807
Launched: 2 October 1808
Completed: April 1809
Fate: Struck, 1814.
Builder: Genoa shipyard
Ordered: January 1806
Launched: 3 May 1808
Completed: August 1808
Fate: Struck, 1836.
Builder: Antwerp shipyard
Ordered:
Begun: August 1806
Launched: 21 August 1808
Completed: April 1809
Fate: Struck, 1819.
Builder: Venice shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 6 September 1810
Fate: Captured by HMS Victorious in the Action of 22 February 1812. Served as HMS Rivoli until broken up in 1819.
Builder: Venice shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: not launched
Fate:
Builder: Venice shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 1811
Fate: Struck, 1814.
Builder: Venice shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 1811
Fate: Struck, 1814.
Builder: Amsterdam shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 1815
Fate: Abandoned in 1813, completed by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Builder: Venice shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 1812
Fate: Struck, 1814.
Builder: Amsterdam shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: July 1817
Fate: Abandoned in 1813, completed by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Builder: Venice shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 1812
Fate: Struck, 1814.
Builder: Amsterdam shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 1817
Fate: Abandoned in 1813, completed by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Builder: Rotterdam shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 1817
Fate: Abandoned in 1813, completed by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Builder: Venice shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: 1815
Fate: Completed by Lombardy–Venetia.
Builder: Venice shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: not launched
Fate: Cancelled.
Builder: Venice shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: not launched
Fate: Cancelled.
Builder: Venice shipyard
Ordered:
Launched: not launched
Fate: Cancelled.
Builder: Trieste shipyard
Ordered: December 1811
Launched: not launched
Fate: Cancelled, 1812.

See also

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Note: The French Ponton can mean a floating walkway, dock, barge, or ship used for storage, accommodation, or even as a prison hulk.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Téméraire class ships of the line.