François-Jean-Baptiste l'Ollivier de Tronjoli was a French Navy officer.

Biography

In 1763, Tronjoli commanded the frigate ''Licorne'', cruising off Newfoundland and Saint-Pierre, before returning to Brest. The year after, he was again at Newfoundland with ''Licorne'' and ''Amphion'', supporting fishing. In 1767, he was again supporting fishing off Newfoundland, this time captaining the 32-gun frigate ''Inconstante'', and in 1768 again with ''Enjouée''. In 1768, he commanded the 32-gun frigate ''Enjouée'' and sailed from

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

to test

marine chronometer A marine chronometer is a precision timepiece that is carried on a ship and employed in the determination of the ship's position by celestial navigation. It is used to determine longitude by comparing Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or in the mode ...

s by

Pierre Le Roy Pierre Le Roy (1717–1785) was a French clockmaker. He was the inventor of the detent escapement, the temperature-compensated balance and the isochronous balance spring. His developments are considered as the foundation of the modern precisio ...

and

John Harrison John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the problem of calculating longitude while at sea. Harrison's solution revo ...

one against the other, as part of the quest for an accurate measurement of longitude. The tests showed that Le Roy's chronometer did not perform better than Harrison's. In 1770, Tronjoli was tasked with ferrying troops between Martinique and France, with the 64-gun ''Union'' and the fluyt ''Seine''. In 1771, he commanded ''Union'' for a cruise to the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is ...

, where he was again the year after. In 1773, Tronjoli was given command of the 64-gun ''Lion'', which he sailed from Brest to Toulon. Tronjoly was promoted to

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

in 1776. He was given command of the 64-gun ''Indien'', and later the 64-gun ''Brillant'' at Isle de France (

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

) and Ile Bourbon. In 1777, he was patrolling the

Malabar coast The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing ...

and protecting French interests at Puducherry. The year after, he conducted diplomatic missions to the

Aceh Sultanate The Sultanate of Aceh, officially the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam ( ace, Keurajeuën Acèh Darussalam; Jawoë: كاورجاون اچيه دارالسلام), was a sultanate centered in the modern-day Indonesian province of Aceh. It was a majo ...

and took part in the Siege of Pondicherry. He also conducted reconnaissance of the port of

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

, which he reported as a good harbour, but with poor infrastructure and defences, and therefore of little practical interest for naval operations. Tronjoli twice wrote to the Navy Minister to warn of his lack of resources to carry out his missions against the British, and failing to get reinforcements, fell back to

commerce raiding Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than eng ...

. He despatched frigates to the

in an attempt to disrupt British commerce there, but the attempt was largely unsuccessful. From 1779, he commanded the India Division, with his flag on the 64-gun ''Brillant''. That year, he was opposed to Captain

Saint-Orens Saint-Orens is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. Geography Population See also *Communes of the Gers department The following is a list of the 461 communes of the Gers department of France. The communes coop ...

, of ''Pourvoyeuse'', regarding the capture of the East Indiaman ''Osterley''. On 22 November 1779, Tronjoli was relieved of duty. He was replaced with

Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves Jean-Baptiste Barthélémy Thomas, comte d’Orves (1727 — ''Orient'', off Madras,Present-day Chennai 9 February 1782Cunat, p.103 ) was a French Navy officer, who rose to have flag officer rank. Biography Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves was born t ...

. He was later recalled to France and embarked on ''Osterley'' to return to Brest, where he arrived in late April 1781.

Sources and references

Notes References Bibliography * * * * External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tronjoli, François-Jean-Baptiste l'Ollivier French Navy officers