''Patriote'' was 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 ...

ship of the line 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 ...

. She was one of the French ships which had their hull doubled with copper.

Career

In 1786, ''Patriote'' was under Captain Renaud d'Aleins,

flag captain In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a "captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "First ...

Chef d'Escadre ''Chef d'escadre'' (; literally " squadron commander") was a rank in the French Navy during the Ancien Régime and until the French Revolution. The rank was changed to '' contre-amiral'' by a law passed on 15 May 1791. History The first chefs ...

Albert de Rions, with Major d'escadre Buor de La Charoulière also aboard. She was the flagship of the

Escadre d'évolution An Escadre d'évolution (French, literally "Evolution squadron") is a squadron of warships of the French Navy cruising in peacetime for the purpose of training their crew and student officers. History The French Navy started organising Escadre d' ...

that organised a naval review and a simulated naval battle for the visit of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

Cherbourg Naval Base Cherbourg Naval Base is a naval base in Cherbourg Harbour, Cherbourg, Manche department, Normandy. The town has been a base of the French Navy since the opening of the military port in 1813. History Early works Cherbourg had been a stronghold ...

. From 1790 to 1791, ''Patriote'' was under Huon de Kermadec, part of the squadron under

Bruni d'Entrecasteaux Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni, chevalier d'Entrecasteaux () (8 November 1737 – 21 July 1793) was a French naval officer, explorer and colonial governor. He is perhaps best known for his exploration of the Australian coast in 1792, while ...

. In September 1793, during the

Siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by Republican forces against Royalist rebels supported by Anglo-S ...

, she was taken by the British, who removed her armament and embarked the French sailors sympathetic to the Republic. Admiral Hood having agreed to transport them to a safe port, she then ferried them to Brest, where she arrived on 16 October.Quintin, p.84 In 1794 she took part in the battle of 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 the ''

Croisière du Grand Hiver The ''Croisière du Grand Hiver'' (French "Campaign of the Great Winter") was a French attempt to organise a winter naval campaign in the wake of the Glorious First of June. Context The Glorious First of June had ended on a strategic success f ...

'' winter campaign in 1794 and 1795, and in the

Expédition d'Irlande The French expedition to Ireland, known in French as the ''Expédition d'Irlande'' ("Expedition to Ireland"), was an unsuccessful attempt by the French Republic to assist the outlawed Society of United Irishmen, a popular rebel Irish republican ...

in December 1796. In 1806 she was damaged in a hurricane in the Caribbean and went to

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

for shelter where she was blockaded by the British along with ''Éole'' and laid off Annapolis for repairs until returning to France. From 1821, she was used as a hulk.

Sources and references

Notes Citations References * * * * Ships of the line of the French Navy Téméraire-class ships of the line 1785 ships Ships built in France {{France-line-ship-stub