''Robuste'' was an

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 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 ...

, built by

Antoine Groignard Antoine Groignard (4 February 1727 – 26 July 1799), was a French naval constructor who developed standard designs for French war ships, and built and improved the dry docks at the French naval bases in Toulon and Brest. Family Groignard was so ...

Career

Initially intended as a 64-gun ship, ''Robuste'' was built in the Lorient shipyard of the

French East India Company The French East India Company (french: Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a colonial commercial enterprise, founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English (later British) and Dutch trading companies in th ...

. She was launched on 2 September 1758, and admitted to active service in April 1759. On 18 November 1759, she collided with frigate ''Hébé''. In June 1777, she was under Lamotte-Picquet, and received the visit of Emperor

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

. On 14 February 1778, ''Robuste'' fired a nine-gun salute for USS ''Ranger'', marking the first time a foreign warship recognised the US flag. ''Robuste'' took part in the campaign in 1779 and 1780 as De Grasse's flagship. She was notably at 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 grandfath ...

. In 1780, she was under Chateauvert. In July 1782, under Nieuil, she was part of the Franco-Spanish fleet under Córdova. 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 resup ...

on 20 October 1782. The same year, she was at Brest under Croiset de Retz. She was eventually struck in 1783, and broken up in Brest the next year.

Sources and references

Notes Citations Bibliography * * (1671-1870) * * External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robuste (1758) Ships of the line of the French Navy 1758 ships Ships built in France