''Diadème'' was the lead ship of 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 ...

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 ...

Career

On 17 March 1757, along with the 64-gun , she captured , commanded by Captain

Robert Roddam Robert Roddam (1719 – 31 March 1808) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War, and the American War of Independence. He survived to see the French Revolutionary and N ...

, off Saint-Domingue. In 1761, she was under Breugnon. In 1780, under Picot de Dampierre, she was part of La Motte-Piquet's division, along with , and . She took part in the

naval operations in the American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War saw a series of battles involving naval forces of the British Royal Navy and the Continental Navy from 1775, and of the French Navy from 1778 onwards. Although the British enjoyed more numerical victories, thes ...

under de Grasse, notably fighting at the

Battle of the Chesapeake The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American Revolutionary War that took place near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 17 ...

under Louis Augustin de Monteclerc. At 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 ...

on 12 April 1782 it was the gap between ''Diadème'' and the mastless which allowed to break the French line. She was severely damaged by ''Formidable'' and withdrew from the battle. on 25 April she was one of the ships ordered to rally at Cap Francois on

San Domingo Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and t ...

with de Vaudreuil's fleet. On 29 September 1792, she was renamed ''Brutus''. She was razéed down to a 42-gun frigate in May 1794, and cruised off Groix under Captain Baud-Vachères. She took part in the

Bataille du 13 prairial an 2 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 June, taking the in tow.

Fate

''Brutus'' was eventually broken up in 1797.

Sources and references

Notes Citations Bibliography * * * * External links
Ships of the line
* Ships of the line of the French Navy Diadème-class ships of the line Ships built in France 1756 ships {{France-mil-ship-stub