French ship Admirable (1691)
The Admirable was a First Rank three-decker ship of the line of the French Royal Navy. She was intended to be armed with 88 guns (like the similar Orgueilleux built alongside her at Lorient), but was modified during construction and completed with 82 guns, comprising six huge 48-pounders plus eighteen 36-pounder guns on the lower deck, twenty-eight 18-pounder guns on the middle deck, and twenty-four 8-pounder guns on the upper deck, with six 6-pounder guns on the quarterdeck.
| History | |
|---|---|
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| Name | Admirable |
| Builder | Lorient Dockyard |
| Laid down | September 1690 |
| Launched | 10 September 1691 |
| Commissioned | March 1692 |
| Fate | Burnt at Cherbourg on 1 June 1692 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 1,600 |
| Length | 151½ French feet[lower-alpha 1] |
| Beam | 45 French feet |
| Draught | 23 French feet |
| Depth of hold | 19¼ French feet |
| Complement | 550 men (400 in peacetime), + 9 officers |
| Armament | 84 guns |
Designed and constructed by Laurent Coulomb, she was begun at Lorient Dockyard in September 1690 and launched on 10 September of the following year. She was completed in March 1692 and took part in the Battle of Barfleur on 29 May 1692; damaged in that battle, she was run ashore at Cherbourg where she was burnt by boats from Englkish warships on 1 June 1692. A replacement for her was built at Lorient later the same year by Laurent Coulomb.
Notes
- The French (pre-metric) foot was 6.575% longer than the equivalent English foot.
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 Vaisseaux du Roi-Soleil de 1661 a 1715. Alain Demerliac (Editions Omega, Nice – various dates).
- The Sun King's Vessels (2015) - Jean-Claude Lemineur; English translation by François Fougerat. Editions ANCRE. ISBN 978-2903179885
- 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.