The Duquesne was a Téméraire class

Téméraire class ship of the line

The Téméraire class ships of the line was a class of 107 74-gun ships of the line built between 1782 and 1813 for the French navy. The type was and remains the most numerous class of capital ship ever built....

 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

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It directed in 1793, under captain Vence

Jean Gaspard Vence

Jean Gaspard de Vence was a French privateer, admiral and Maritime Prefect of Toulon.-Biography:In 1762 at age 15 he entered the merchant navy in Bayonne, sailed to Saint-Domingue and several years later became a captain. Transferred to the Royal Navy, served on a 74-gun battleship «Le...

, an important convoy of Levant then escaped the hostile monitoring from a squadron Anglo-Spanish.

In 1795, under captain Allemand

Zacharie Allemand

Zacharie Jacques Théodore Allemand, was a French admiral.- Early career :Allemand was born to a captain of the East Indian Company. Orphaned at an early age, he started his sailing career at 12 as an apprentice on Superbe, an East Indiaman...

, she took part in the Battle of Cape Noli

Naval Battle of Genoa (1795)

The Naval Battle of Genoa was fought on 14 March 1795 off the coast of Genoa, a port city in north-western Italy, between French warships under Rear-Admiral Pierre Martin and British and Neapolitan warships under Vice Admiral William Hotham...

, and in the Naval Battle of Hyères Islands

Naval Battle of Hyères Islands

The Naval Battle of Hyères Islands was fought on 13 July 1795 off the Hyères Islands, a group of islands off the French Mediterranean coast, about 25 km east of Toulon. The battle was fought between the van of a British fleet chasing the French squadron, and the French rear...

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From the summer of 1801, she was armed en flûte

En flûte

Arming a ship en flûte means removing some or all of the artillery. Since ships have a limited amount of cargo space, they may be armed en flûte to make room for other cargo, such as troops and ammunition...

 and used as a troop ship. On 22 November 1802, she departed Toulon, bound to Saint Domingue under Commodore Pierre-Maurice-Julien Querangal, along with Guerrière

HMS Guerriere (1806)

HMS Guerriere was a 38-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, which had previously sailed with the French Navy as the Guerrière. She became famous for her fight against ....

 and Duguay-Trouin

HMS Implacable (1805)

HMS Implacable was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy. She was originally the French Navy's Téméraire-class ship of the line Duguay-Trouin, launched in 1800....

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The flotilla found itself blockaded by HMS Elephant

HMS Elephant (1786)

HMS Elephant was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by George Parsons in Bursledon, Hampshire, and launched on 24 August 1786....

, Bellerophon

HMS Bellerophon (1786)

The first HMS Bellerophon of the Royal Navy was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line launched on 6 October 1786 at Frindsbury on the River Medway, near Chatham. She was built at the shipyard of Edward Greaves to the specifications of the Arrogant, designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1758, the lead ship...

, Theseus

HMS Theseus (1786)

HMS Theseus was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.One of the eight Culloden class ships designed by Thomas Slade, she was built at Perry, Blackwall Yard, London and launched on 25 September 1786.-Service:...

, Vanguard

HMS Vanguard (1787)

HMS Vanguard was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 March 1787 at Deptford. She was the sixth vessel to bear the name....

 and Tartar

HMS Tartar (1801)

HMS Tartar was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, built at Frindsbury and launched in 1801. She captured privateers on the Jamaica station and fought in the Gunboat War and elsewhere in the Baltic before being lost to grounding off Estonia in 1811.-Jamaica station:Captain James Walker...

. Attempting a sortie, Guerrière and Duguay-Trouin managed to escape; Duquesne separated from the squadron and attempted to flee in the night, but she was rejoined by Tartar

HMS Tartar (1801)

HMS Tartar was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, built at Frindsbury and launched in 1801. She captured privateers on the Jamaica station and fought in the Gunboat War and elsewhere in the Baltic before being lost to grounding off Estonia in 1811.-Jamaica station:Captain James Walker...

 and Vanguard the next afternoon. After a short artillery duel, Duquesne, largely outnumbered by her opponents, struck her colours.

Duquesne was incorporated in the Royal Navy as HMS Duquesne. In 1804, she ran aground on Morant Keys. She was refloated in 1805, and sailed to England to be broken up.

A large scale model of Duquesne, built in 1788, is on display at the Naval museum in Toulon; another, of more reduced size, is with the Museum of Tonnerre

Tonnerre

Tonnerre is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France.-Twin town:* Nenagh, North Tipperary, Ireland-References:*...

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Sources and references

• National Maritime Museum plan of HMS Duquesne