Levant Fleet

Levant Fleet
The Royal Louis, Admiral Vessel (French: Vaisseau-Amrial) of the Levant Fleet under Louis XIV.^[1]
Active	1689 – 1792
Country	Kingdom of France
Branch	Royal French Navy (French: Marine royale française)
Type	Naval fleet
Role	Naval operations in the Mediterranean
Garrison/HQ	Arsenal of Toulon Arsenal of Galères
Engagements	Franco-Dutch War Nine Years' War War of the Spanish Succession War of the Austrian Succession Seven Years' War Independence War of the United States (U.S.)

The term Fleet of the Levant designated under the Ancien Regime the ensemble of naval vessels of the Royal French Navy (French: Marine royale française) destined for naval operations (naval supremacy, protection of convoys) in the Mediterranean. The fleet is the alter ego of the Flotte du Ponant (French: Flotte du Ponant), based in Manche and in the Atlantic Ocean.

Arsenals

First based in Fréjus, the fleet garrisoned at the beginning of the 17th century in two specialized aresenals:

At Marseille, for the galleys (French: galères) ( from 1665 to 1750)
At Toulon, for the vessels (French: vaisseaux)

Admiral Vessel

The stern of Louis XIV's Réale.

General vue of the port of Toulon in the middle of the 18th century.

The Admiral Vessel (French: galère-amirale) is traditionally the Réale, bearing the mark of général des galères (grand-officer of the crown of France) (French: général des galères) is exposed at the Musée national de la Marine.

For the naval vessels, the Admiral Vessel was always the most powerful unit ship present in Toulon, under Louis XIV, the Royal-Louis of 110 cannons constructed in 1667^[2] and in 1692^[3] (vessels where the batteries were painted in red, the higher decks (French: gaillards) in blue and all underlined with dorure), and under Louis XVI the Majestueux (Majestic) of 110 cannons constructed in 1780^[4] then the Commerce de Marseille of 118 cannons constructed in 1788.

Vice-admirals

The commandment of the two fleets ( Levant and du Ponant ) was entrusted on November 12, 1669 to two Vice-admirals.

Name	Portrait	Tenure	Note
Anne Hilarion de Tourville (French: Anne Hilarion de Costentin, comte de Tourville) Count de Tourville (1624-1701)		1689-1701	Heraldry Tenure at age 65 until 1701

The first vice-admiral of the Levant was Anne Hilarion de Tourville, designated only in 1689 (Louis XIV hoped for, in vain, Abraham Duquesne (French: Duquesne), who died in 1688), until 1701. Followed by :

Name	Portrait	Tenure	Note
François Louis de Rousselet, Marquis de Châteaurenault (French: François-Louis Rousselet, marquis de Châteaurenault) Marquis de Châteaurenault (1637-1716)		1701-1716	Tenure at age 63 until 1716
Alain Emmanuel de Coëtlogon (French: Alain Emmanuel de Coëtlogon) (1646-1730)		1716-1730	Tenure at age 70 until 1730
Charles de Sainte-Maure, marquis d'Augé (French: Charles de Sainte-Maure, marquis d'Augé) Marquis d'Augé (1655-1744)	-	1730-1744	Tenure at age 75 until 1744
Gaspard de Goussé de La Roche-Allard (French: Gaspard de Goussé de La Roche-Allard) (1664-1745)	-	1745-1745	Tenure at age 81 and died one week later
Vincent de Salaberry de Benneville (French: Vincent de Salaberry de Benneville) (1663-1750)	-	1750	Tenure at age 86
Pierre Blouet de Camilly (French: Pierre de Blouet de Camilly) (1666-1753)		1751-1753	Tenure at age 85 until 1753
Jean-André Barrailh (French: Jean-André Barrailh) (1672-1762)	-	1753-1762	Tenure at age 82 until 1762
Emmanuel-Auguste de Cahideuc, Comte Dubois de la Motte (French: Emmanuel Auguste Dubois de La Motte) Count Dubois de la Motte (1683-1764)	-	1762-1764	Tenure at age 79 until 1764
Claude Louis d'Espinchal, marquis de Massiac (French: Claude Louis d'Espinchal) (1686-1770)	-	1764-1770	Tenure at age 78 until 1770
Anne Antoine, Comte d'Aché (French: Anne Antoine d'Aché) Count d'Aché (1701-1780)	-	1770-1780	Tenure at age 69 until 1780
Charles-Alexandre Morel, comte d'Aubigny (French: Charles-Alexandre Morel, comte d'Aubigny) Count d'Aubigny (1699-1781)	-	(1780-1781)	Tenure at age 81 until 1781
Aymar Joseph de Roquefeuil et du Bousquet (French: Aymar Joseph de Roquefeuil et du Bousquet) Count of Roquefeuil and du Bousquet (1714-1782)		1781-1782	Tenure at age 67 until 1782
Henri-François de La Rochefoucauld (French: Henri-François de La Rochefoucauld) (1716-1784)	-	1782-1784	Tenure at age 64 until 1784
Louis-Armand-Constantin de Rohan (French: Louis-Armand-Constantin de Rohan) (1732-1794)	-	1784-1792	Tenure at age 52 until 1792

In case Tourville commanded the fleet during the battles of the reign of Louis XIV, his successors would have hardly served at sea with such a senior age. The squadrons were confined during the 18th century to the Lieutenant Generals of the Naval Armies (French: lieutenants généraux des armées navales).

The rank lieutenant-general of the armies (French: Lieutenant-général des armées) or Lieutenant-general of the Naval Armies (French: lieutenant-général des armées navales) for la Marine, was the highest rank in the military hierarchy of the Ancien Regime, only accessible to nobility. He was only surpassed by the Marshals of France, the general colonels, for the Army, the Admirals of France and vice-admirals of France, for la Marine, titled not of a military rank but of a grand office of the French crown (French: grand office de la couronne de France), a dignity both honorific and lucrative. The rank of lieutenant general was the equivalent of the actual rank of division general and that of lieutenant-general of naval armies of the Vice-admiral of France.

The ranks of lieutenant-general of the armies were renamed as division general and vice-admiral in 1791. In 1814, the rank of division general was designated again as lieutenant general of the armies, before definitely being attributed the rank of general in 1848.

Administration

The Fleet of the Levant was re-baptized starting the French Revolution « escadre de la Méditerranée » ( squadrons of the Mediterranean ). The fleet was almost successively annihilated during the Siege of Toulon in 1793 and during the battles of Aboukir 1798 and Trafalgar.

The term of Fleet of the Levant was temporary readopted under the French Restoration and the July Monarchy.

The far distant actual descendent is the administration of the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean (French: Commandant en chef pour la Méditerranée)

References

↑ Par maître Rodolphe, in Histoire de la Marine française illustrée, Larousse, 1934.
↑ Royal-Louis (1668), the first of the 15 Royal-Louis was destroyed in 1690.
↑ Royal-Louis 1692, the second of the 15 Royal-Louis was disarmed in 1716 and destroyed in 1727.
↑ the Majestueux was renamed Républicain (Republican) in 1797; destroyed in 1808.

Bibliographie

Rémi Monaque, Une histoire de la marine de guerre française, Paris, éditions Perrin, 2016, total pages 526 ISBN 978-2-262-03715-4
Michel Vergé-Franceschi, La marine française au XVIII, guerres, administration, exploration, Regards sur l'histoire, Paris, SEDES editions, 1996, total pages 451 ISBN 2-7181-9503-7.
Michel Vergé-Franceschi, Toulon: port royal, 1481-1789, Tallandier, 2002 - 329 pages

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