French ship Saint-Esprit - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from French ship Saint-Esprit (1766)) Ship of the line of the French Navy For other ships with the same name, see French ship Scipion.

History
The Saint-Esprit in action. (Detail of an English painting of 1784)
France
Name	Saint-Esprit
Namesake	Order of the Holy Spirit
Ordered	11 January 1762
Builder	Arsenal of Brest
Laid down	May 1762
Launched	12 October 1765
Christened	20 January 1762
Commissioned	1766
Decommissioned	26 January 1795
Renamed	Scipion in April 1794
Fate	Wrecked off Brest on 26 January 1795
General characteristics
Class and type	Saint-Esprit-class ship of the line
Displacement	1,754 tonnes
Length	59.8 m (196 ft 2 in)
Beam	14.9 m (48 ft 11 in)
Draught	7.5 m (24 ft 7 in)
Complement	970
Armament	80 guns: 30 × 36-pounder long guns 32 × 24-pounder long guns 18 × 18-pounder long guns

Saint-Esprit ("Holy Ghost") was an 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was funded by a don des vaisseaux donation from the Order of the Holy Spirit, and named in its honour.

Career

She took part in the Battle of Ushant under La Motte-Picquet, and to the Armada of 1779.

In 1781, on 29 April, she took part in the Battle of Fort Royal under Chabert-Cogolin.

She was renamed Scipion in April 1794, and took part in the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2 under Huguet, where she was totally dismasted. She was wrecked on 30 January 1795, during the Croisière du Grand Hiver. Most of her crew were rescued by Trente-et-un Mai.

As a young man, Swedish naval officer Johan Herman Schützercrantz served on board the Saint–Esprit; he would later become a rear admiral in Swedish service.

Citations

^ Roche, p.394
Troude (1867), p. 100—101.
Kerguelen (1796), p. 182-183.
Levot, p.207
Benson, Adolph B. (1926). Sweden and the American Revolution. New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor. p. 117. OCLC 1414856625.

References

Levot, Prosper (1866). Les gloires maritimes de la France: notices biographiques sur les plus célèbres marins (in French). Bertrand.
Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
Kerguelen, Yves-Joseph (1796). Relation des combats et des évènements de la guerre maritime de 1778 entre la France et l'Angleterre (in French). Imprimerie de Patris.
Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France (in French). Vol. 2. Challamel ainé. OCLC 836362484.

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1795
Shipwrecks	26 Jan: Scipion 29 Jan: Auguste 30 Jan: Superbe Jan: Rover Mar: Chambers 24 Apr: Galathée 1 May: Boyne 13 Jul: Alcide 2 Aug: HMS Diomede 11 Aug: Solicitor General Aug: Spy Oct: Phyllis 18 Nov: Golden Grove Nov: Ann and Eliza, HMS Fleche 30 Dec: HMS Amethyst Unknown date: Chaser
Other incidents	Mar: HMS Swiftsure Apr: HMS Victorious Jun: HMS Flying Fish Sep: Marquis Cornwallis Oct: Hibberts Nov: Ranger 11 Dec: HMS Shark Unknown date: USRC Eagle, HMS Lynx
1794 1796

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