The ''Foudroyant'' was a First Rank

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 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 ...

History

The name means ''Thunderbolt'', ''lightning''; having an awesome and overwhelming effect. This ship was originally ordered built 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 on 20 January 1693, and

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

ordered she should bear the name ''Soleil Royal'' to replace the previous ship bearing that name (destroyed at

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

) in June 1692. The designer and builder was Blaise Pangalo. However, Étienne Hubac begged the King that that name should be given to the ship (''Foudroyant'') he had just build and was then completing instead, because the previous ''Soleil Royal'' had been built by his own father, Laurent Hubac, and - as he himself had rebuilt that ship from the keel up at Brest in 1689 - he still possessed the moulds for that ship. Moreover, he pointed out to the King that his own ship would be some 4 feet longer and some 200 tons larger than Pangalo's new ship, so would be more deserving of the name that honoured Louis XIV himself. On 1 March 1693, the King agreed to Hubac's proposal and the names of the two ships were exchanged. Pangalo's ship was thus laid down under the name ''Foudroyant'' in April 1693, launched on 14 November 1693 and completed in 1694. She was armed with 104 guns, comprising twenty-eight 36-pounders on the lower deck, thirty 18-pounders on the middle deck, twenty-eight 12-pounders on the upper deck, twelve 6-pounders on the quarterdeck and six 6-pounders on the forecastle. In 1706 two extra 12-pounders were added on the upper deck, and two 6-pounders were removed. Battle of Malaga, 1704

The new ship took part in the

Battle of Vélez-Málaga A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

on 24 August 1704, where she was the flagship of ''Amiral de France'' Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon,

Comte de Toulouse The count of Toulouse ( oc, comte de Tolosa, french: comte de Toulouse) was the ruler of Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the Frankish kings, the hereditary counts ruled the city of Toulouse and its surroundin ...

. She was scuttled in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

on Louis's orders in July 1707 to avoid being set alight by the bombardment by the English fleet. She was later put back afloat, but in March 1713 she was condemned, and was taken to pieces during 1714.

Notes

References

* *''Nomenclature des Vaisseaux du Roi-Soleil de 1661 a 1715''. Alain Demerliac (Editions Omega, Nice – various dates). *''The Sun King's Vessels'' (2015) – Jean-Claude Lemineur; English translation by François Fougerat. Editions ANCRE. *Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen (2017) ''French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626-1786: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.'' Seaforth Publishing. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Foudroyant (1693) Ships of the line of the French Navy 1690s ships