''Océan'' was a 118-gun

first-rate In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying at ...

three-decker

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 ...

, lead ship''Commerce de Marseille'' was ordered after ''États de Bourgogne'' (which was later renamed ''Océan''), but launched before her; therefore, the ship type is alternatively called ''Commerce de Marseille'' class or ''Océan'' class of her class. She was funded by a

don des vaisseaux The ''don des vaisseaux'' (lit. "gift of ships of the line") was a subscription effort launched by Étienne François de Choiseul, Duke of Choiseul and secretary of State to the Navy in 1761 as an effort to rebuild the French naval power, diminis ...

donation from the Estates of Bourgogne. She was ordered as ''États de Bourgogne'' and was launched 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 *Br ...

in 1790. Like many French ships of the line during the Revolutionary period, she was renamed several times, becoming ''Côte d'Or'' in January 1793, ''Montagne'' in October 1793, ''Peuple'' on 17 May 1795, and a matter of weeks later again renamed, to ''Océan''. She served until 1855. A large model of a generic ''Océan''-class ship, named ''Océan'', at the scale can be seen at the Musée de la Marine in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Career

As the largest ship of the line in the Brest fleet, the ship spent much of her early career as the fleet

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

. As ''Montagne'', the ship was the

of Rear-Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse in the Combat de Prairial (known in English literature as the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...

) in 1794. She was badly damaged by , losing 313 men and receiving 233 round shots in her hull. On 17 May 1795, she was renamed ''Peuple''; a month later, on 23 June she fought in the

Battle of Groix The Battle of Groix was a large naval engagement which took place near the island of Groix off the Biscay coast of Brittany on 23 June 1795 ( 5 messidor an III) during the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle was fought between elements of the ...

as Villaret's flagship. Returning to

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

three days later, she was officially renamed to ''Océan'', a name that had been in use since 30 May. She was refitted in Brest in 1797. In 1801, she once again served as Villaret's flagship, ferrying troops of Leclerc's expedition to

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...

. ''Océan'' was Allemand's flagship at the

Battle of the Basque Roads The Battle of the Basque Roads, also known as the Battle of Aix Roads ( French: ''Bataille de l'île d'Aix'', also ''Affaire des brûlots'', rarely ''Bataille de la rade des Basques''), was a major naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars, fought in t ...

. She was decommissioned on 2 August 1850, and used as a floating

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to fac ...

from May 1851.

Notes and References

Notes

References

Bibliography

* "Le vaisseau trois-ponts l’Océan", Jean Boudriot, in ''Neptunia'' n° 102 (1971), page 21. * * (1671-1870)

External links

French ship Océan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocean (1790) Ships of the line of the French Navy Océan-class ships of the line 1790 ships Don des vaisseaux Ships built in France