French ship César (1768)
 The end of the César, by François Aimé Louis Dumoulin. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg.png){kind=small} France | |
| Name: | César |
| Namesake: | Caesar |
| Ordered: | 10 March 1767 |
| Builder: | Toulon |
| Laid down: | August 1767 |
| Launched: | 3 August 1768 |
| In service: | November 1768 |
| Struck: | 12 April 1782 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | César class ship of the line |
| Displacement: | 1500 tonnes |
| Length: | 54.6 m (179 ft) |
| Beam: | 14.1 m (46 ft) |
| Draught: | 6.7 m (22 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: | Timber |
The Caesar is a 74-gun ship with two bridges of the French Royal Navy. Commissioned in the spring of 1767 to the shipyards of Toulon, it was launched on August 3, 1768. It is actively engaged in the American War of Independence at the end of which it is lost in combat.
General Features
The César is a force ship of 74 guns launched according to the standards defined in the 1740s by the French manufacturers to obtain a good cost / maneuverability / armament in order to be able to face the English navy which has many more ships since The end of the wars of Louis XIV. Without being standardized, the César shares the common characteristics of all the "74 canons" built to dozens of copies until the beginning of the nineteenth century and which evolve at a slow rate of construction techniques of the time and the will of naval officials to make the best use of this excellent category of warship.
As for all the warships of the time, its hull is in oak. Its rigging (masts and yards) is in pine. There are also elm, linden, poplar and walnut for the carriages of the guns, the sculptures of the fellows, and the interior carpentry. The ropes (80 tons) and sails (about 2,500 m2) are hemp. A second set of emergency sails is stored in the hold. Planned to operate for weeks far from its European bases if necessary, its transport capacities are considerable. It takes three months of consumption of water, supplemented by six months of wine. There are also tens of tons of biscuits, flour, fresh and dried vegetables, meat and salted fish, cheese, oil, vinegar, salt, not to mention live cattle, which will be slaughtered as the campaign progressed.
On its lower deck, it has 28 guns of 36 pounds (the biggest calibers in service in the fleet at that time) and 30 guns of 18 pounds on its upper deck. In addition, 16 guns of 8 pounds are distributed on the fellows. This iron artillery weighs 215 tons. To supply him with combat, the ship embarks about 6,000 heavy balls in all 67 tons. There are also rolled balls, chained and a lot of grape shot (8 tons). There are 20 tons of black powder, stored in the form of gargoyles or in bulk in the depths of the ship. On average, each gun has 50 to 60 balls.
The participation of the ship in the American War of Independence
The campaign in the Estaing squadron (1778-1779)
When the French engagement in the war of independence of the United States began, he was under the command of the captain of Raimondis. On April 13, 1778, he left Toulon for America, in the 12 vessels of the naval army of Count d'Estaing. On July 8, the fleet arrived at the mouth of the Delaware, north of Baltimore, and pursued several enemy ships. On 8 August, it forces the New York Strait and enters the Connecticut Bay, where the British forces are anchored. The English burn seven of their buildings and shops. On August 11, 1778, the César was separated from the squadron by a violent storm at the time when he was about to engage in a battle with the forces of Richard Howe. On August 16, 1778, he fought against HMS Iris and then went to shelter in Boston where he was joined by the other French buildings.
In December 1778, after the passage of the Estaing squadron in the West Indies, the César participated in the vain cannonade of St. Lucia. On July 6, 1779, he was engaged on the rear guard in the hard but victorious battle of Grenada against the forces of John Byron. After Estaing's failure before Savannah (October 1779), the César returned to France with the other ships that had arrived on America in 1778 in order to be refurbished and to renew the crew.
The campaign in the forces of Count De Grasse (1781-1782)
In 1781, the Cesar left for the West Indies under the command of the Chevalier d'Espinouse in the great squadron of Count De Grasse. On April 28, he took part in the engagement of Fort-Royal to raise the blockade of Martinique. On May 24, he was part of the squadron which covered the French landing on the island of Tobago. On September 5, 1781, he was present at the decisive battle of the Chesapeake which completed the encirclement of the English forces at Yorktown.
In 1782, still in the forces of Count De Grasse, he moved to the West Indies and took part in January in the battle of Saint-Christophe, which took possession of the island of the same name. On April 12, 1782, when the naval army escorted a large convoy, the César fought at the Battle of the Saints during which he was totally dismasted and then captured by the HMS Centaur. In the night after the battle, a fire unfolds for an unknown reason in the holy beard and detonates it, killing 400 French sailors and 50 English of the catch crew. The César was one of the twenty ships lost by the Royal Navy during the American Revolution.