''Ferme'' was a

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

of the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

. Offered to the Crown by the

Ferme générale The ''ferme générale'' (, "general farm") was, in ''ancien régime'' France, essentially an outsourced customs, excise and indirect tax operation. It collected duties on behalf of the King (plus hefty bonus fees for themselves), under renewable ...

as a

Don des vaisseaux The ''don des vaisseaux'' (lit. "gift of ships of the line") was a subscription effort launched by Étienne François de Choiseul, Duke of Choiseul and secretary of State to the Navy in 1761 as an effort to rebuild the French naval power, diminis ...

, she was renamed ''Phocion'' at the Revolution . Her officers surrendered her to Spain in 1793 out of Royalist political convictions and she served in the Spanish Navy until 1818.

Career

Built under supervision of engineer de la Motte, ''Ferme'' entered active service on 28 January 1786. In September 1790, she was sent to the Caribbean, where she recaptured the naval schooner ''Bigotte'' on 10 November 1791. The next week, she recaptured Îlet Ramiers, whose garrison had rebelled. On 3 October 1792, she was renamed ''Phocion'', but before the decree arrived, her officers had mutined against the

First French Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (french: Première République), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (french: République française), was founded on 21 September 1792 ...

and were flying the Royalist white ensign. On 11 January 1793, they sailed her into

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

to surrender her to Spain. ''Ferme'' was incorporated into the Spanish Navy, where she served until 1808.

Citations

References

* Ships of the line of the French Navy Téméraire-class ships of the line 1785 ships {{France-mil-ship-stub