Claude-Marguerite Renart de Fuchsamberg d'Amblimont (1736 — 14 February 1797) was a French naval officer who served in the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

and

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

and saw action in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

. He was killed in action at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1797 while commanding the Spanish ship of the line ''Conde de Regla''.

Biography

Amblimont was born to the family of

Chef d'Escadre ''Chef d'escadre'' (; literally " squadron commander") was a rank in the French Navy during the Ancien Régime and until the French Revolution. The rank was changed to '' contre-amiral'' by a law passed on 15 May 1791. History The first chef ...

Claude-Thomas Renart d'Amblimont, and was the grandchild on Thomas-Claude Renart de Fuchsamberg Amblimont. He joined the Navy as a

Garde-Marine Gardes de la Marine is a junior officer rank, usually used in American navies, as well as a former rank used in France. France In France, under the Ancien Régime, the (Guards of the Navy), or were young gentlemen undergoing training to be nav ...

in on 20 December 1751. He was promoted to Ensign in 1754, and to Lieutenant in 1760. In 1770, he was made a Knight in the

Order of Saint Louis The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis () is a dynastic order of chivalry founded 5 April 1693 by King Louis XIV, named after Saint Louis (King Louis IX of France). It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, notable as the fi ...

. On 18 February 1772, he was promoted to Captain. In 1776, he was in command of the frigate ''Diligente'', taking part in the exercises of the

Escadre d'évolution An Escadre d'évolution (French, literally "Evolution squadron") is a squadron of warships of the French Navy cruising in peacetime for the purpose of training their crew and student officers. History The French Navy started organising Escadre d' ...

. He captained the 64-gun ''Vengeur'' in October 1778 when she and the frigate ''Belle Poule'' captured the privateer ''St Peters''. In 1757, he fought to repel the Louisbourg Expedition. He invented a new type of Capstan. In 1779, he was promoted to Brigadier. In 1781, he was given 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 ...

''Hercule'', part of the squadron under

Guichen Guichen (; ; Gallo: ''Gischen'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. History Population Inhabitants of Guichen are called ''Guichenais'' in French. Image gallery File: Halles-guichen-2 ...

and Orvilliers. He took part in the Battle of Martinique on 17 April 1780. Later, he transferred on ''Brave''. He took part in

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, where he was taken prisoner by the British. On 20 August 1784, he was promoted to

. In 1788, he authored ''Tactique Navale'', a well-received book on naval tactics. He was promoted to

Contre-amiral Counter admiral is a military rank used for high-ranking officers in several navies around the world, though the rank is not used in the English-speaking world, where its equivalent rank is rear admiral. The term derives from the French . Dependi ...

on 1 January 1792. Amblimont then joined the

. He was given command of a division, with his flag on ''Conde de Regla''. He was killed by a cannonball at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent on 14 February 1797.

Citations

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Renart de Fuchsamberg, Claude-François 1736 births 1797 deaths French Navy officers French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War