Citoyen-class ship of the line

The Citoyen class consisted of four 74-gun ships of the line all built at Brest Naval Dockyard to a design by Joseph-Louis Ollivier. The first ship (Citoyen, originally to have been named Cimeterre) was newly built there from 1761 to 1764, and the other three were rebuilt to her design from earlier ships.

Built at: Brest
Keel laid: July 1761
Launched: 27 August 1764
Completed: December 1764
Fate: decommissioned in 1783 and taken to pieces in 1792
Originally built at: Toulon
Ordered: 5 March 1743
Originally launched: 9 March 1746
Rebuilt: from January 1765 at Brest to the draught of the Citoyen, re-launched 29 November 1765 and completed in December 1765
Fate: Condemned in May 1796 but put back into service in March 1798, captured by the British on 2 August 1798 at the Battle of the Nile, broken up in Plymouth in January 1803
Originally built at: Brest
Keel laid: November 1750
Originally launched 21 July 1752
Rebuilt: from 23 May 1766 at Brest to the draught of the Citoyen, re-launched in December 1766 and completed in the same month
Fate: Rebuilt again at Brest in 1776. Abandoned and foundered off Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean on 24 October 1782
Originally built at: Brest (as a 64-gun ship)
Keel laid: 1750
Originally launched: 15 December 1752
Rebuilt at: from April 1767 at Brest to the draught of the Citoyen, re-launched on 5 October 1767 and completed in April 1768
Fate: Rebuilt again at Brest in 1774. Condemned in August 1783, sold 1784
Class overview
NameCitoyen
BuildersJoseph-Louis Ollivier, Brest
Operators French Navy
Completed4
General characteristics
TypeShip of the line
Tonnage1500 tonnes
Displacement3000 tonnes
Length169½ French feet[1] (55.06 metres)
Beam43 French feet (13.97 metres)
Draught21 French feet (6.82 metres)
Depth of hold20¾ French feet (6.74 metres)
PropulsionSail
Complement715 men in wartime, 650 men in peacetime; + 6/12 officers
Armament
ArmourTimber
NotesShips in class include: Citoyen, Conquérant, Palmier, Actif

Sources and references

  • Demerliac, Alain (1995). La Marine de Louis XV - Nomenclature des navires francais de 1715 à 1774. pp. 39–41. ISBN 2-906381-19-5.
  • Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S., French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626-1786: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. (Seaforth Publishing, 2017) ISBN 978-1-4738-9351-1.
  1. Note that the French (pre-metric) foot was 6.575% longer than the equivalent British unit of measurement of the same name.
  2. Note that the French (pre-metric) pound was about 7.9% heavier than the equivalent British unit of measurement of the same name. Thus the French 36-pounder equated to about 38 lb 13.6 oz in British measurement.
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