The ''Duc de Bourgogne'' was an 80-gun 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 ...

Career

She was refitted twice, in 1761 and 1779, when she received a

copper sheathing Copper sheathing is the practice of protecting the under-water hull of a ship or boat from the corrosive effects of salt water and biofouling through the use of copper plates affixed to the outside of the hull. It was pioneered and developed by ...

. On 2 May 1780, she departed Brest as the flagship of the 7-ship and 3-frigate

Expédition Particulière ''Expédition Particulière'' (English: Special Expedition) was the codename given by the Kingdom of France for the plan to sail French land forces to North America to support the colonists against Britain in the American Revolutionary War. Numberi ...

under Admiral Ternay, escorting 36 transports carrying troops to support the Continental Army in the

War of American Independence 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 ...

. The squadron comprised the 80-gun ''Duc de Bourgogne'', under Ternay d'Arsac (admiral) and Médine (

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 ...

); the

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 ...

''Neptune'', under Sochet Des Touches, and ''Conquérant'', under La Grandière; and the 64-gun ''Provence'' under Lombard, ''Ardent'' under Bernard de Marigny, ''Jason'' under La Clocheterie and ''Éveillé'' under Le Gardeur de Tilly, and the frigates ''Surveillante'' under Villeneuve Cillart, ''Amazone'' under La Pérouse, and ''Bellone''. ''Amazone'', which constituted the vanguard of the fleet, arrived at Boston on 11 June 1780. She took part in the

Battle of Cape Henry The Battle of Cape Henry was a naval battle in the American War of Independence which took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 16 March 1781 between a British squadron led by Vice Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot and a French fleet under Admiral ...

on 16 March 1781 under Nicolas-Louis de Durfort. ''Duc de Bourgogne'' took part in the

Battle of the Saintes The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...

, where she collided with ''Bourgogne''. In 1792, she was renamed ''Peuple'', and ''Caton'' in 1794. She was

condemned Condemned or The Condemned may refer to: Legal * Persons awaiting execution * A condemned property, or condemned building, by a local authority, usually for public health or safety reasons * A condemned property seized by power of eminent domain ...

in February 1798 at Brest, and eventually broken up in January 1800.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes Citations Bibliography * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duc De Bourgogne Ships of the line of the French Navy 1751 ships