Origin and History
This ship of the line was built by Jacques-Luc Coulomb at Lorient and launched on August 10 1756. She belonged to the Compagnie des Indes, not to the Marine Royale. She entered service in November 1756.
During the Seven Years' War, the ship was under the command of:
- from December 30 1756 to November 30 1759: captain Jean-Jacques de La Chaise
- from November 30 1759 to January 1 1762: the ship was not in active service
- from January 1 1762: captain Pierre-Bernard Tréhouart de Beaulieu
The ship was broken up in 1766.
Service during the War
On December 30 1756, the ship was commissioned at Lorient for service in India.
On January 27 1758, the ship was part of d'Aché's squadron which sailed from Île de France and made for the coast of Coromandel in India, transporting reinforcements under the command of Lally. Owing to the monsoon, it was much delayed. On April 28, the squadron arrived at daybreak into the roadstead of Fort St. David. The French squadron cut off the escape of the Bridgewater (24) of captain John Stanton, and Triton (24) of captain Thomas Manning, which were lying there, and which, to save them from capture, were run ashore and burnt. Lally's instructions from Versailles directed him first to besiege Fort St. David. Accordingly, d'Aché detached the Comte-de-Provence (68) and the Diligente (24) to carry M. de Lally to Pondicherry (actual Puducherry). On April 29, she joined the combat of Cuddalore at the end of the action. On August 3 1758, when Pocock made another attempt to dislodge the French squadron from Pondicherry, the ship took part to the combat of Negapatam where she led the French van. She then engaged the Elizabeth (64) but her mizzen caught fire and she had to quit the line and cut away the mast. The French charge Pocock with throwing inflammables on board but the vice-admiral does not seem to have taken any special measures for setting her on fire.
On September 10 1759, the ship took part in the victorious battle of Pondicherry. On November 30, she was decommisioned at Île de France, probably to be refitted.
On January 1 1762, the ship re-entered active service at Île de France.
To do: more details on campaigns from 1760 to 1762
|Length||168 feet (51.21 m)|
|Width||43 feet (13.11 m)|
|Depth||20 feet 6 in (6.25 m)|
|Displacement||1490 tons (1352 metric tons)|
Blasco, Manuel, Ship of the Compagnie des Indes, 3 Decks Wiki
Deschênes , Ronald; Vaisseaux de ligne français de 1682 à 1767, version 2, 2001
Service historique de la Défense, Les mouvements au long cours des navires de la deuxième Compagnie française des Indes orientales
N.B.: the section Service during the War is mostly derived from our articles depicting the various campaigns, battles and sieges.