French ship Commerce de Marseille (1785)
 Scale model of Achille, sister ship of French ship Commerce de Marseille (1785), on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Commerce de Marseille |
| Builder | Toulon shipyard |
| Laid down | September 1784 |
| Launched | 7 October 1785 |
| Completed | September 1787 |
| Renamed |
|
| Captured | Handed over to the British on 29 August 1793 |
| Fate | Burnt on 18 December 1793 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 3,069 tonneaux |
| Tons burthen | 1,537 port tonneaux |
| Length | 55.87 m (183 ft 4 in) |
| Beam | 14.46 m (47 ft 5 in) |
| Draught | 7.15 m (23.5 ft) |
| Depth of hold | 7.15 m (23 ft 5 in) |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Crew | 705 |
| Armament |
|
Commerce de Marseille was a 4th rank, 74-gun Téméraire-class ship of the line built for the French Navy during the 1780s. She was funded by a don des vaisseaux donation by merchants from Marseille. Completed in 1785, she played a minor role in the French Revolutionary Wars.
Description
[edit]The Téméraire-class ships had an length of 55.87 metres (183 ft 4 in), a beam of 14.46 metres (47 ft 5 in) and a depth of hold of 7.15 metres (23 ft 5 in). The ships displaced 3,069 tonneaux and had a mean draught of 7.15 metres (23 ft 5 in). They had a tonnage of 1,537 port tonneaux. Their crew numbered 705 officers and ratings during wartime. They were fitted with three masts and ship rigged.[1]
The muzzle-loading, smoothbore armament of the Téméraire class consisted of twenty-eight 36-pounder long guns on the lower gun deck, thirty 18-pounder long guns and thirty 18-pounder long guns on the upper gun deck. On the quarterdeck and forecastle were a total of a dozen 8-pounder long guns and ten 36-pounder carronades.[1]
Construction and career
[edit]Commerce de Marseille was ordered in 1784 and was laid down at the Arsenal de Toulon in October.[1] She was launched on 17 October 1785. The ship was named on 27 January 1786 and then renamed Lys on 19 July.[2] She was completed in September 1787.[1]
She was renamed Tricolore on 6 October 1792. She was one of the ships in Toulon when the city was surrendered to a British force under Admiral Lord Hood in August 1793. Tricolore was subsequently burned by the British in their withdrawal from the port in December that year.[1]
References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours [Dictionary of French Warships from Colbert to Today]. Vol. 1: 1671-1870. Roche. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
- Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2