''Protecteur'' 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 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 ...

, the only to have borne the name.

Career

She was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

in 1757 and launched in 1760. In 1762, under Captain de L'Ilsle Calian, ''Protecteur'' was part of Bompart's squadron. In 1766, she escorted merchantmen under Captain de Broves. In 1788, Under Captain Dapchon, ''Protecteur'' was appointed to

Admiral d'Estaing Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, Count of Estaing (24 November 1729 – 28 April 1794) was a French general and admiral. He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession, briefly spending time as a prisoner of war of the ...

's squadron and took part in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. She took part in the

Battle of Grenada The Battle of Grenada took place on 6 July 1779 during the American Revolutionary War in the West Indies between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy, just off the coast of Grenada. The British fleet of Admiral John Byron (the grandfather ...

under Grasse-Limermont. In 1782, ''Protecteur'' was part of the escort of a 20-sail convoy, along with the ship and the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

s and . The English and intercepted, yielding the

Third Battle of Ushant Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

in which they captured ''Pégase'' and four transports, but where the rest of the French convoy escaped. From 1784, ''Protecteur'' was hulked and used as a hospital in Rochefort.

Legacy

A model of a 64-ship of the line on display at the Musée de la Marine is labelled as representing ''Protecteur'', probably as the result of an error of Admiral Pâris. The model is probably that of (1748–1771).

Sources and references

Notes Citations References * * External links *
Le Protecteur
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Protecteur Ships of the line of the French Navy 1760 ships