French ship Dauphin Royal (1735)

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For other ships with the same name, see French ship Dauphin Royal.
History
French Navy EnsignFrance
NameDauphin Royal
NamesakeThe Dauphin of France, heir to the French throne
BuilderBrest Dockyard [1]
Laid downNovember 1735 [1]
Launched13 October 1738 [1]
In serviceOctober 1740 [1]
Out of serviceSeptember 1783 [1]
Stricken1783
FateBroken up in 1787
General characteristics
Class and typeship of the line
Displacement2,608 tonnes
Tons burthen1,400 tonnes [1]
Length
  • 49.9 metres [1]
  • 155 French feet 10 inches[2]
Beam
  • 13.6 metres [1]
  • 42 French feet 4 inches
Draught
  • 6.6 metres [1]
  • 20 French feet 4 inches
Depth of hold20½ French feet
Decks2 gun decks
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement
  • 550 men
  • 6 officers
Armament
  • 74 guns:
  • Main battery: 26 × 36-pounders on the lower deck
  • Secondary battery: 28 × 18-pounders on the upper deck
  • Forecastle and quarterdeck: 16 × 8-pounders on the quarterdeck and forecastle
  • Poop 4 × 4-pounders on the poop (these were removed in 1751)
Armourtimber
Battle of Grenada

Dauphin Royal was a 74-gun ship of the line of the Royal French Royal Navy, designed in 1735 by Blaise Ollivier and constructed in 1735 to 1740 at Brest Dockyard.

Construction[edit]

Dauphin Royal and the contemporary Superbe, also built at Brest over the same period, were the last French 74-gun ships to have only thirteen pairs of lower deck guns (subsequent 74-gun French ships all were constructed with a fourteenth pair of lower deck guns). In 1747, she was rebuilt at Brest and reduced to 70 guns by the removal of her poop guns.

Career[edit]

In early 1744, Dauphin Royal was part of the squadron under Roquefeuil for a cruise in the Channel.[1]

In 1755, she sailed to Canada under Captain de Montalais.[1] In 1757, she was laid up in ordinary at Rochefort.[1]

Dauphin Royal took part in the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November 1759 under Captain d'Uturbie Fragosse.[1]

In 1788, under Nieuil, Dauphin Royal was the lead ship of the Second Division in the White-and-Blue squadron of the fleet under Orvilliers.[3] She took part in the Battle of Ushant, the Invasion of Minorca in 1781, and the Battle of Saint Kitts on 25/26 January 1782. Dauphin Royal and her commander Roquefeuil-Montpeyroux also took part in the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782.[1]

Fate[edit]

She was condemned in September 1783 and sold in June 1787 to be broken up.[1]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Roche (2005), p. 142-143.
  2. ^ The French (pre-metric) foot was 6.575% longer than the equivalent British foot.
  3. ^ Contenson (1934), p. 615.

References[edit]

  • Contenson, Ludovic (1934). La Société des Cincinnati de France et la guerre d'Amérique (1778-1783). Paris: éditions Auguste Picard. OCLC 7842336.
  • Demerliac, Alain (1995). La Marine de Louis XV: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1715 à 1774 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 9782906381193. OCLC 492782929.
  • Lacour-Gayet, Georges (1905). La marine militaire de la France sous le règne de Louis XVI. Paris: Honoré Champion. OCLC 763372623.
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. p. 223. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
  • Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S (2017). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626–1786: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-4738-9351-1.


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