Nineteen ships 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 ...
have borne the name ''Hercule'', in honour of the Roman hero
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
:
* (1657–1673), a 38-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 ...
* (1642–1672), a 36-gun ship of the line rename ''Hercule'' in 1671
* (1673–1678), a 50-gun ship of the line
* (1679–1704), a 30-gun ship of the line
* (1705–1741), a 64-gun ship of the line
* (1750–1760), a 66-gun ship of the line
* (1779), a
fluyt
A fluyt (archaic Dutch: ''fluijt'' "flute"; ) is a Dutch type of sailing vessel originally designed by the shipwrights of Hoorn as a dedicated cargo vessel. Originating in the Dutch Republic in the 16th century, the vessel was designed to facilit ...
* (1779–1797), a
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 ...
* (1798–1798), a
bomb vessel
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons ( long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mounte ...
* (1798), a
* (1800), a
brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...
* (1804–1815), a bomb vessel
*
''Provence'' (1815–1883), an 80-gun ship of the line, was renamed ''Hercule'' in 1815
* (1836–1860), a 100-gun ship of the line
* (1893–1944), a
tugboat
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
* (1914–1918), an auxiliary
minesweeper
A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping.
History
The earliest known usage of ...
* (1939–1944), an auxiliary tugboat of the
FNFL
The Free French Naval Forces (french: Forces Navales Françaises Libres, or FNFL) were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Émile Muselier.
History
In the wake of the Armistice a ...
* (1945–1951), a tugboat
* (1960–1993), a tugboat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hercule
French Navy ship names