César-class ship of the line

The César class or Zélé class included two 74-gun ships of the line designed by Joseph Coulomb. They were a development of his earlier 74-gun ship, the Zélé of 1763.

Builder: Toulon
Ordered: 10 March 1767
Launched: 3 August 1768
Fate: Captured and burnt by the British at the Battle of the Saintes, 12 April 1782
Builder: Toulon
Ordered: 7 February 1770
Launched: 21 October 1777
Fate: Captured by the British at Toulon in August 1793, and burnt by them there in December 1793

Class overview
NameCésar
BuildersToulon Dockyard
Operators French Navy
Completed2
General characteristics
TypeShip of the line
Tonnage1,500 tons
Displacement2,900 tons
Length157½ French feet[1]
Beam43½ French feet
Draught20 French feet 8 inches
Depth of hold29¾ French feet
Decks2 gun decks
PropulsionSail
Complement715 (later 734), + 6/12 officers
Armament
  • 74 guns:
  • Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns
  • Upper gundeck: 30 × 24-pounder long guns
  • Forecastle and Quarter deck:
  • 6 × 8-pounder long guns
ArmourTimber
NotesShips in class include: César, Destin

Sources and references

  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. p. 223. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
  • Nomenclature des navires français de 1715 á 1774. Alain Demerliac (Editions Omega, Nice – 1995). ISBN 2-906381-19-5.
  • Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen (2017) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626-1786: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4738-9351-1.
  1. The French (pre-metric) foot was 6.575% longer than the equivalent French foot.
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