''Dauphin Royal'' was a 74-gun

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

of the Royal

French Royal 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 ...

, designed in 1735 by Blaise Ollivier and constructed in 1735 to 1740 at

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

Dockyard.

Construction

''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

and reduced to 70 guns by the removal of her poop guns.

Career

In early 1744, ''Dauphin Royal'' was part of the squadron under Roquefeuil for a cruise in the Channel. In 1755, she sailed to Canada under Captain de Montalais. In 1757, she was

laid up in ordinary A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; ...

at Rochefort. ''Dauphin Royal'' took part in the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November 1759 under Captain d'Uturbie Fragosse. 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 Orvilliers () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Georges Pompidou, President of France from 1969 to his death in 1974, is buried in the local cemetery. See also *Communes of the Yveline ...

. She took part in the Battle of Ushant, the

Invasion of Minorca The island of Menorca in the Mediterranean Sea has been invaded on numerous occasions. The first recorded invasion occurred in 252 BC, when the Carthaginians arrived. The name of the island's chief city, Mahón (now Maó), appears to derive from ...

in 1781, and the

Battle of Saint Kitts The Battle of Saint Kitts, also known as the Battle of Frigate Bay, was a naval battle fought on 25 and 26 January 1782 during the American Revolutionary War between a British fleet under Rear Admiral Sir Samuel Hood and a larger French fleet u ...

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.

Fate

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

Sources and references

Notes Citations References * * * * * Ships of the line of the French Navy 1730s ships {{France-mil-ship-stub