Vaisseau_de_80_canons_vu_par_Nicolas_Ozanne_en_1764

''Formidable'' was an 80-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

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 ...

, launched in 1751.

Career

In 1754, ''Formidable'' was under Duchaffault, part of a squadron under Mac Nemara. She fought at the

Battle of Quiberon Bay The Battle of Quiberon Bay (known as ''Bataille des Cardinaux'' in French) was a decisive naval engagement during the Seven Years' War. It was fought on 20 November 1759 between the Royal Navy and the French Navy in Quiberon Bay, off the coast ...

on 20 November 1759, where she served as the flagship of Saint André du Vergé. captured her at the battle and the Admiralty commissioned her in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

as the

Third Rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

HMS ''Formidable''.

Fate

''Formidable'' was broken up in 1768.

In popular culture

The ''Formidable'' appears as a legendary ship fought in the 2014 video game '' Assassin's Creed: Rogue'' at the Battle of Quiberon Bay. In contrast to the game, the ship was sunk by the protagonist Shay Cormac with his ship, the ''Morrigan'', instead of being captured by the Royal Navy. Like all

men-of-war The man-of-war (also man-o'-war, or simply man) was a Royal Navy expression for a powerful warship or frigate from the 16th to the 19th century. Although the term never acquired a specific meaning, it was usually reserved for a ship armed wi ...

in the game, the ship is a 116-gun first rate ship of the line, contrary to its real world counterpart.

Sources and references

Notes References Bibliography *Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . * Formidable (1751) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1751 ships {{UK-line-ship-stub