French ship Citoyen (1764)

The Citoyen was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class to a design by Joseph-Louis Ollivier. She was funded by a don des vaisseaux donation from the Bankers and General Treasurers of the Army.[1]

History
French Navy Ensign French Navy EnsignFrance
NameCitoyen
Namesake"Citizen"
OrderedMay 1757[1]
BuilderBrest[1]
Laid downJuly 1761[1]
Launched27 August 1764[1]
In serviceDecember 1764[1]
FateBroken up 1791
General characteristics
Class and typeCitoyen class ship of the line
Tonnage1,500 tons
Displacement3,000 tons
Length169½ French feet[Note 1] (55.06 metres)
Beam43 French feet (13.97 metres)
Draught21 French feet (6.82 metres)
PropulsionSail
Complement715 men in wartime, 650 in peacetime, + 6/12 officers
Armament
ArmourTimber

Career

Ordered in May 1757 as Cimeterre, the ship was renamed Citoyen on 20 January 1762. A launching attempt aborted on 10 August 1764, when she came to a halt on the ramp, and she was eventually set afloat 17 days later.[1]

She took part in the Battle of Martinique on 17 April 1780 under Captain Poute de Nieuil.[2][3]

In 1781, under Alexandre de Thy,[4] she was appointed to the squadron of Admiral de Grasse and took part in the Battle of Fort Royal in April. On 24 August, along with Glorieux, she captured HMS Cormorant off Charleston. In September, she took part in the Battle of the Chesapeake on 5 September 1781, in the Battle of St Kitts on 25/26 January 1782 and the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782.

In 1783, on returning to France, she was decommissioned, and was eventually broken up in 1791.[1]

Notes
  1. Note that the (pre-metric) French foot was 6.575% longer than the equivalent British unit of measurement.

Citations
  1. Roche (2005), p. 116.
  2. Contenson (1934), p. 235.
  3. Troude (1867), p. 71.
  4. Lacour-Gayet (1910), p. 648.

References
  • Contenson, Ludovic (1934). La Société des Cincinnati de France et la guerre d'Amérique (1778-1783). Paris: éditions Auguste Picard. OCLC 7842336.
  • Lacour-Gayet, Georges (1910). La marine militaire de la France sous le règne de Louis XVI. Paris: Honoré Champion. pp. 431–434.
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours, 1671 - 1870. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. p. 116. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
  • Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France (in French). Vol. 2. Challamel ainé.
  • Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S (2017). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626–1786: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-4738-9351-1.


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