The Bretagne was a large 110-gun three-decker French ship of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

, built at Brest

Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

, which became famous as the flagship of the Brest Fleet during the American War of Independence.

She was one of 17 ships of the line ordered in 1762 as a result of the Duc de Choiseul’s campaign to raise funds for the navy from the cities and provinces of France. She was completed at Brest in 1766.

She fought at the Battle of Ushant

Battle of Ushant

Battle of Ushant may refer to:*Battle of Ushant , fought west of Ushant, a large but inconclusive engagement in the American War of Independence*Battle of Ushant , a convoy battle, also during the American War of Independence...

 in 1778 as flagship of the Comte d'Orvilliers.

During the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 she was renamed Révolutionnaire. In May 1794 she fought in the skirmishes before the Battle of the Glorious First of June

Glorious First of June

The Glorious First of June [Note A] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars...

, dropping to the rear of the French fleet to drive off the pursuing British ships. In action against five or six 74-gun ships she was badly damaged, lost all her masts, and was only saved from capture by confusion among her opponents. She was towed to Rochefort

Rochefort, Charente-Maritime

Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...

 by the battleship Audacieux

French ship Audacieux (1784)

The Audacieux was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.Between 1791 and 1793, she was decommissioned in Lorient. She joined active service again in 1793, and the next year, she salvaged the Révolutionnaire, dismasted after the Glorious First of June.She was eventually broken...

 and escorted by the corvette Unité.

Too damaged by the battle to be repaired, she was broken up between January and May 1796.

A scale model of Bretagne is on display at Brest naval museum.

External links

• Model of Bretagne in 1766.