French Ship Illustre (1781)

The ''Illustre'' was a 74-gun ''Magnanime'' class ship of the line of the French Navy. She took part in the War of American Independence and in the French Revolutionary Wars. Damaged beyond repairs during the Expédition d'Irlande, she was scuttled on 30 December 1796.

Career

War of American Independence

On 11 December 1781, Bussy-Castelnau departed Cadiz with a squadron comprising the 64-gun ''Saint-Michel'' and ''Illustre'', under Bruyères-Chalabre, escorting three transports, to make his junction at Tenerife with another squadron under Guichen. the next day, they encountered a British squadron under Kempenfelt. In the subsequent Second Battle of Ushant, most of the French transports were captured by the British, except ''Marquis de Castries'' and ''Neptune-Royal'', which reached Sainte-Croix carrying siege artillery and an artillery company.

Bussy sailed on towards the Indian Ocean, arriving to Table Bay in early April. He landed his troops to reinforce the Dutch Cape Colony against a possible British attack, and on 2 May 1782 he sailed to Isle de France (Mauritius), where ''Saint-Michel'' and ''Illustre'' arrived on 31, the transports following a few days later. Informed that Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves had left the island on 7 December 1781 with his squadron to attack Trincomalee, Bussy decided to attach the 40-gun frigate ''Consolante'' to his squadron, as well as 800 men from the garrison which he embarked on 9 transports, and go reinforce him.

On 21 August 1782, ''Ilustre'' and ''Saint-Michel'' arrived at Batacalo, making their junction with the squadron under Suffren. They were escorting 8 transports and preceded by the corvette ''Fortune'', under Lusignan.

In the night of 12 January 1783, chasing the frigate ''Fine'' which she had mistaken for a privateer, HMS Coventry (1757) sailed into Ganjam Roads, where Suffren's ''Héros'', ''Illustre'', ''Ajax'' and ''Brillant'' were at anchor. Captain Wolseley, of ''Coventry'', had no information that French vessels were in the area and so allowed the current to take him towards the vessels, the wind being weak. As ''Coventry'' arrived, Suffren, on ''Héros'', was sending a boat over to ''Illustre'', but the boat master was drunk and instead mistakenly came aboard ''Coventry''. The boat's crew was promptly taken prisoners and taken to the orlop deck. At this moment, the French division noticed ''Coventry'', and ''Illustre'', ''Ajax'' and ''Brillant'' opened fire. Interrogating his prisoners, Wolseley learnt that the ships firing on him were part of Suffren's squadron, at which point his men rushed below. Alone on his quarterdeck, Wolseley had no choice but to surrender.

Later service

In 1788, ''Illustre'' was the flagship of a squadron under Nieuil, cruising off Tunis.

''Illustre'' stayed in Brest between 1788 and 1791. She was razeed into a 44-gun frigate in 1793.

In February 1794, she was renamed ''Mucius Scévola'', and ''Scévola'' the next month.

She took part in the Expédition d'Irlande. On 30 December 1796, she was wrecked in a storm and was so badly damaged that she was scuttled. The crew was evacuated by ''Révolution''.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Illustre
Ships of the line of the French Navy
Ships built in France
Magnanime-class ships of the line
Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
Maritime incidents in 1796
1781 ships