An Escadre d'évolution (French, literally "Evolution squadron") is a squadron of warships of the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

cruising in peacetime for the purpose of training their crew and student officers.

History

The French Navy started organising Escadre d'évolution early in its existence. During the 17th century, Tourville conducted such exercises. The practice fell in disuse due to an era of wars and lack of credits. During the reign of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

, the Navy restored the practice under Duchaffault and Orvilliers. In 1772, Orvilliers was cruising off the shores of France for several weeks, with his flag on the

64-gun The 64-gun ship of the line was a type of two-decker warship defined during the 18th century, named after the number of their guns. 64-guns had a lower battery of 24-pounders, and an upper battery of 12-pounders. Heavier variants with 18-pounder o ...

''Alexandre''. Duchaffault captained the 50-gun ''Fier'', and the frigate ''Aurore'' was also part of the squadron. Minister Sartine then instituted such cruises as yearly events. In 1775, Guichen was conducting his own exercises from Brest with a 12-ship division comprising four frigates, five corvettes, a lugger and two cutters, and 1885 men, with his flag on the 36-gun frigate ''Terpsichore''. On 8 September 1775, Guichen's training squadron appeared on the horizon and was in port a mere two hours later; the event shook Sartine, who remarked that the defences of Brest could never be manned in such a short time, and thus had to be reinforced and maintained at a constant state of readiness, even in peacetime. In 1776, Sartine increased the strength of the Escadre d'évolution to 17 ships, including three ships of the line, seven frigates, five corvettes and two cutters. It was organising in three divisions, each under a

Chef d'Escadre ''Chef d'escadre'' (; literally "squadron commander") was a rank in the French Navy during the Ancien Régime and until the French Revolution. The rank was changed to '' contre-amiral'' by a law passed on 15 May 1791. History The first chefs ...

with his flag on a ship of the line: Du Chaffault, holding exercises from Brest with his flag on the

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

''Zodiaque''; Abon, on the

''Provence''; and

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

, on the

''Solitaire''. From 10 May, the squadron conducted a four-month cruise between

Ushant Ushant (; br, Eusa, ; french: Ouessant, ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and, in medieval terms, Léon. In lower tiers of governm ...

and

Cape Finisterre Cape Finisterre (, also ; gl, Cabo Fisterra, italic=no ; es, Cabo Finisterre, italic=no ) is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain. In Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world. The name Finisterre, like ...

, and with 3,705 men — fewer than in wartime, but noticeably more than the normal peacetime complement. The frigate ''Diligente'', under Lieutenant Amblimont, took part in the exercises. Training at sea resumed after the

War of American Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and the related

Anglo-French War The Anglo-French Wars were a series of conflicts between England (and after 1707, Britain) and France, including: Middle Ages High Middle Ages * Anglo-French War (1109–1113) – first conflict between the Capetian Dynasty and the House of Norma ...

that ended in 1783. Notably, when Louis XVI visited

Cherbourg naval base Cherbourg Naval Base is a naval base in Cherbourg Harbour, Cherbourg, Manche department, Normandy. The town has been a base of the French Navy since the opening of the military port in 1813. History Early works Cherbourg had been a stronghold si ...

in April 1786 to mark the completion of a sea wall, the Escadre d'évolution held a naval review and

naumachia The naumachia (in Latin , from the Ancient Greek /, literally "naval combat") in the Ancient Roman world referred to both the staging of naval battles as mass entertainment, and the basin or building in which this took place. Early The first ...

under

Albert de Rions, with his flag on the

''Patriote''. The

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

and

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

removed the opportunity to conduct training cruises for a whole era again. In the 1840s, the practice was reintroduced under the impulsion of such officers as Lalande.

Sources and references

Notes Citations References * * * * * * External links * {{cite web , url=http://www.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/chan/chan/series/pdf/Marine-B4.pdf, author=Archives nationales, access-date=29 April 2020, title=Fonds Marine, sous-série B/4: Campagnes, 1571-1785, year=2011 French Navy

History

See also

Sources and references