''Royal Louis'' was a 110-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 ...

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 ...

. She was designed and built at Brest Dockyard by Léon-Michel Guignace.

Career

In 1780, ''Royal Louis'' was under Beaussier de Chateauvert. She took part in the

Battle of Cape Spartel The Battle of Cape Spartel was an indecisive naval battle between a Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova and a British fleet under Admiral Richard Howe. These forces met on 20 October 1782 after Howe successfully resupp ...

on 20 October 1782 under Beausset, with Verdun de La Crenne as

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 ...

, although she did not engage. She was renamed ''Républicain'' in September 1792. Under this name, she took part in 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 ...

, being the last ship of the French rear. She was attacked, totally dismasted, and struck her colours; however, the British failed to possession, and she returned to Rochefort. On 24 December 1794, she took part 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 ...

. As the fleet exited

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, ...

harbour, she ran aground with the loss of 10 men. Her crew abandoned ship, and the wreck was destroyed in a tempest a few days later.

Sources and references

Notes Citations References * * * * * * Ships of the line of the French Navy Shipwrecks in the Bay of Biscay 1780 ships Maritime incidents in 1794 {{France-line-ship-stub