''Artésien'' ('

Artesian Artesian may refer to: * Someone from the County of Artois * Artesian aquifer, a source of water * Artesian Builds, a former computer building company * Artesian, South Dakota, United States * Great Artesian Basin, Australia * The Artesian Hotel ...

') was a 64-gun

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 ...

, lead ship of her class. She was funded by a

don des vaisseaux The ''don des vaisseaux'' (lit. "gift of ships of the line") was a subscription effort launched by Étienne François de Choiseul, Duke of Choiseul and secretary of State to the Navy in 1761 as an effort to rebuild the French naval power, diminis ...

donation from the Estates of Artois.

Career

''Artésien'' was built in 1765 as a part of a series of twelve ships of the line began by Choiseul to compensate for the losses endured by the French Royal Navy during 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� ...

. She was paid by the province of

Artois Artois ( ; ; nl, Artesië; English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras (Dutch: ''Atrecht'') ...

and

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, and named in its honour, according to the practice of the time. During 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 a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, ''Artésien'' took part in the

Battle of St. Lucia The Battle of St. Lucia or the Battle of the Cul de Sac was a naval battle fought off the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies during the American Revolutionary War on 15 December 1778, between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy. Ba ...

on 15 December 1778, in the Battle of Martinique on 17 April 1780, in the

Siege of Savannah The siege of Savannah or the Second Battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenan ...

, under Captain Thomassin de Peynier. In 1781, ''Artésien'' was attached to a division under Suffren, departing France for the

Dutch Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie) was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) colony in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original colony and its successive states that the colony was inco ...

and Isle de France (

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

). Off

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

, ''Artésien'' detected an English squadron, resulting in the

Battle of Porto Praya The Battle of Porto Praya was a naval battle that took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781 between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under the Bailli de Suffren. Both squadrons w ...

.Liste des régiments et vaisseaux.
Théatre d'opérations : Etats-Unis 1777-1782 Her captain, Cardaillac, was killed by a bullet to the chest at the beginning of the action, and was replaced by First officer de la Boixière. At the

Battle of Sadras The Battle of Sadras was the first of five largely indecisive naval battles fought between a British fleet (under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes) and a French fleet (under Admiral Pierre Suffren) off the east coast of India during the Anglo-French ...

on 17 February 1782, she was commanded by Captain Bidé de Maurville. On 7 July 1782, following the Battle of Negapatam, Suffren replaced Maureville with

Armand de Saint-Félix Armand de Saint-Félix (20 September 1737 – 13 August 1819) was a French Navy officer and admiral. Biography Saint-Félix joined the Navy in 1755. he served on the 16-gun ''Calypso'', where he took part in the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 No ...

. ''Artésien'' went on to take part in the

Battle of Trincomalee A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

from 25 August to 3 September 1782.

Fate

''Artésien'' was decommissioned in 1785 and used as a shear hulk.

Legacy

A finely-crafted 1/28th scale model was used to instruct

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

in naval studies. The model is now on display at the Musée de la Marine.

Citations

Reference

* * * * * * * * *

External links

Ships of the line of the French Navy 1765 ships Don des vaisseaux Artésien-class ships of the line {{France-mil-ship-stub