| Contents Next Page Previous Page 10 Pages >> 10 Pages << |
| Naval History of Great Britain - Vol I | ||
| 1793 | First Republican Fleet at Sea | 55 |
the Phocion 74 had previously gone. About the same time a squadron from Brest, Lorient, and Rochefort began to assemble in Quiberon bay; and on the 4th of June Vice-admiral Morard-de-Galles, with all the line-of-battle ships then in the road, sailed from Brest for the same destination; having under his command, in the course of that and the following month, from 14 to 17 line-of-battle ships, and, by the latter end of August, a fleet composed of the 21 sail of the line and four frigates named in the following list:
|
Gun-ship. |
|||
120 |
Còte-d'Or |
Rear-adm. * .. Lelarge. | 2 |
| Captain Touissant Duplassis-Grénédan. | |||
110 |
Terrible |
Vice-adm. .. Morard-de-Galles. | 1 |
| Commodore Bonnefoux. | |||
Bretagne |
Rear-adm. .Landais. | 3 | |
| Captain . Richery. | |||
80 |
Auguste |
Rear-adm. Yves-J. Kerguelen. | 4 |
| Captain . | |||
| Indomptable | Commodore Eustache Bruix. | ||
| Juste | Jean-Elie Terrason. | ||
74 |
Trajan | Louis-Thos. Villaret-Joyeuse. | |
| Tigre | .. Vanstabel. | ||
| Audacieux | François-Joseph Bouvet. | ||
| Téméraire | Captain Yves-François Doré | ||
| Suffren | Yves-Louis Obet. | ||
| Impétueux | Jean-Pierre Lévêque | ||
| Aquilon | Jean-Baptiste Henry. | ||
| Northumberland. | Guillaume Thomas. | ||
| Jean-Bart | Joseph-Marie Coetnempren. | ||
| Tourville | Claude-Marie Langlois. | ||
| Achille | .. Keranguen. | ||
| Convention | .. Labatul. | ||
| Neptune | .. Tiphaigne | ||
| Révolution | .. Tranquelléon. | ||
| Superbe | .. Bois-Sauveur. | ||
Frigates, Galathée, Engageante, Nymphe, and Sémillante.
By a singular omission on the part of the French government, this formidable French fleet, instead of cruising in the ocean to harass British commerce, or speeding to the Antilles to strike a blow against one or more of the British colonies, was allowed
* A word or two may be here usefully introduced on the comparative rank of French naval officers. The French have only two classes of flag-officers ; "vice-amiral," vice-admiral, and "contre-amiral," rear-admiral. Their "grand-amiral," or, as recently styled, " amiral ," is an honorary rank usually, given to some prince of the blood, and was of course suspended during the republican dynasty. When a "vice-amiral" commands a fleet, he is usually styled "général," and sometimes "amiral." The French have, also, or rather had during the war, a rank of "chef-de-division," or commodore ; who hoisted his broad pendant even under a flag-officer. Their captains are divided into "capitaines de vaisseau de première classe," " capitaines de vaisseau de deuxième classe," and " capitaines de frégate." Of the first, a portion bear, or rather bore during the war, the additional rank of "chefs-de-division," or commodores; and it is considered proper to give them that appellation in the list.
^ back to top ^