''Duc de Bourgogne'' was an 80-gun

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 tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

Career

She was refitted twice, in 1761 and 1779, when she received a

copper sheathing Copper sheathing is a method for protecting the hull of a wooden vessel from attack by shipworm, barnacles and other marine growth through the use of copper plates affixed to the surface of the hull, below the waterline. It was pioneered and d ...

. On 2 May 1780, she departed from Brest as the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

of the 7-ship and 3-frigate

Expédition Particulière The Special Expedition (French: ''Expédition Particulière'') was an Expeditionary warfare, expeditionary force deployed by Kingdom of France, France to North America to support the United States against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain ...

under Admiral Ternay, escorting 36 transports carrying troops to support the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

in the

War of American Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. The squadron comprised the 80-gun ''Duc de Bourgogne'', under Admiral Ternay and Médine (

flag captain In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a " captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "Firs ...

); the

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 ...

, under Sochet Des Touches, and , under La Grandière; and the 64-gun under Lombard, under

Bernard de Marigny Jean-Bernard Xavier Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville (1785–1868), known as Bernard de Marigny, was a French- Creole American nobleman, playboy, planter, politician, duelist, writer, horse breeder, land developer, and President of the Louisian ...

, ''Jason'' under La Clocheterie and under Le Gardeur de Tilly, and the frigates under Villeneuve Cillart, under La Pérouse, and . ''Amazone'', which constituted the vanguard of the fleet, arrived at Boston on 11 June 1780. She took part in the

Battle of Cape Henry The Battle of Cape Henry was a naval battle in the American War of Independence which took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 16 March 1781 between a British squadron under Vice-admiral Mariot Arbuthnot and a French squadron under Admira ...

on 16 March 1781 under Nicolas-Louis de Durfort. ''Duc de Bourgogne'' took part in the

Battle of the Saintes The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...

, where she collided with . In 1792, she was renamed ''Peuple'', and then ''Caton'' in 1794. She was condemned in February 1798 at Brest, and eventually broken up in January 1800.

Citations

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duc de Bourgogne Ships of the line of the French Navy 1751 ships