French ship Illustre (1781)
{{short description|Ship of the line of the French Navy}}
{{Other ships|French ship Illustre}}
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{{Infobox ship image | image = 74 canons Manuel Ngo.jpg |Ship image= |Ship caption= The sister ship of Illustre, {{ship|French ship|Magnanime|1779|2}} }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=France | Ship flag = Image:Flag of the Kingdom of France (1814-1830).svg Image:Flag of French-Navy-Revolution.svg Image:Civil and Naval Ensign of France.svg |Ship name=Illustre |Ship namesake=Illustrious |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Rochefort {{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=250}} |Ship laid down=August 1779 {{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=250}} |Ship launched=23 February 1781 {{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=250}} |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service=March 1781 {{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=250}} |Ship out of service=16 December 1796 {{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=250}} |Ship renamed= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Scuttled 30 December 1796 |Ship notes= |Ship honours= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= {{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=250}} |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|Magnanime|ship of the line}} |Ship displacement=1,800 tonnes |Ship length={{convert|55.6|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|14.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|6.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion=Sail |Ship speed= |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship complement= |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*74 guns:
}} |
Illustre was a 74-gun {{sclass|Magnanime|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 {{ship|French ship|Saint-Michel|1741|2}} 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.{{sfnp|Cunat|1852|p=184}} 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.{{sfnp|Cunat|1852|p=185}}
Bussy sailed on towards the Indian Ocean, arriving to Table Bay in early April.{{sfnp|Cunat|1852|p=185}} 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. {{sfnp|Cunat|1852|p=186}} 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 {{ship|French frigate|Consolante|1775|2}} to his squadron, as well as 800 men from the garrison which he embarked on 9 transports, and go reinforce him.{{sfnp|Cunat|1852|p=187}}
On 21 August 1782, Ilustre and Saint-Michel arrived at Batacalo, making their junction with the squadron under Suffren. They were escorting eight transports and preceded by the corvette {{HMS|Fortune|1778|2}}, under Lusignan.{{sfnp|Cunat|1852|p=205}}
In the night of 12 January 1783, chasing the frigate {{ship|French frigate|Fine|1779|2}} which she had mistaken for a privateer, {{HMS|Coventry|1757|6}} sailed into Ganjam Roads, where Suffren's {{ship|French ship|Héros|1778|2}}, Illustre, {{ship|French ship|Ajax|1779|2}} and {{ship|French ship|Brillant|1774|2}} were at anchor.{{sfnp|Lacour-Gayet|1910|p=539}} 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.{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|p=71}} 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.{{sfnp|Lacour-Gayet|1910|p=539}}{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|p=71}}
= Later service =
In 1788, Illustre was the flagship of a squadron under Nieuil, cruising off Tunis.{{sfnp|Lacour-Gayet|1910|p=590}}
Illustre stayed in Brest between 1788 and 1791. She was razeed into a 44-gun frigate in 1793. {{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=250}}
In February 1794, she was renamed Mucius Scévola, and Scévola the next month. {{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=250}}
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. {{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=250}}
Citations
{{Reflist}}
References
- {{cite book |last1=Cunat |first1=Charles |author-link1=Charles Cunat|title=Histoire du Bailli de Suffren |date=1852 |publisher=A. Marteville et Lefas |location=Rennes |pages=447 |url=https://archive.org/details/histoiredubaill00torpgoog}}
- {{cite book |last=Lacour-Gayet |first=Georges|author-link=Georges Lacour-Gayet|title=La marine militaire de la France sous le règne de Louis XV |date=1910 |publisher=Honoré Champion |location=Paris |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1181278.texteImage}}
- {{cite book|last=Hepper|first=David J.|year=1994|title=British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859|publisher=Jean Boudriot|location=Rotherfield|isbn=0-948864-30-3}}
- {{Cite book|first=Jean-Michel |last=Roche |year=2005 |title=Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870 |isbn=978-2-9525917-0-6 |oclc=165892922 |page=398}}
{{coord missing|Atlantic Ocean}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{1796 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Illustre}}
Category:Ships of the line of the French Navy
Category:Ships built in France
Category:Magnanime-class ships of the line
Category:Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean