Guy François Coëtnempren de Kersaint (7 June 1703 in Plounéventer – 20 November 1759 in

Battle of Quiberon Bay The Battle of Quiberon Bay (known as ''Bataille des Cardinaux'' in French) was a decisive naval engagement during the Seven Years' War. It was fought on 20 November 1759 between the Royal Navy and the French Navy in Quiberon Bay, off the coast ...

) was a French Navy officer. He served in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

Biography

Kersaint joined the Navy as a

Garde-Marine In France, under the Ancien Régime, the Gardes de la Marine (Guards of the Navy), or Gardes-Marine were young gentlemen undergoing training to be naval officers. The training program was established by Cardinal Richelieu in 1670 and lasted until Ad ...

in February 1722, and was promoted to Ensign in October 1731, Lieutenant in May 1741, and Captain in January 1747. In 1756, he took command 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 ...

''Intrépide''. He led a division to cruise off

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

, destroying British factories and engaging in

commerce raiding Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than enga ...

. He then sailed to the Caribbean. On 21 October 1757, near

Caicos The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and no ...

, he encountered three British ships, leading to the

Battle of Cap-Français The Battle of Cap-Français was a naval engagement during the Seven Years' War fought between French and British forces outside the harbour of Cap-Français, Saint-Domingue (present-day Cap-Haïtien, Haiti) on 21 October 1757. The British fo ...

. Kersaint was wounded and ''Intrépide'' was almost completely dismasted, but she managed to repel the British. In 1759, he took command of ''Thésée''. He took part in the

on 20 November 1759. During the battle, as Kersaint was attempted to come to the aid of Conflans, ''Thésée'' performed a turn without closing her lower gunports. Water rushed into the gundeck, and ''Thésée'' capsized, killing most aboard.

Sources and references

Notes References Bibliography * External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kersaint, Guy François French Navy officers