''Languedoc'' 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 ...

and

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 Admiral

d'Estaing d'Estaing is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Charles Henri Hector d'Estaing (1729–1794), French general and admiral * Guillaume-Hugues d'Estaing (died 1455), French Roman Catholic cardinal and bishop * See also ...

. She was offered to King

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

by the Estates of

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

, as part of the , a national effort to rebuild the navy after the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. She was designed by the naval architect Joseph Coulomb.

Construction

Ordered in Toulon, ''Languedoc'' took several years to complete due to a lack of timber in the shipyard, already busy building and , and with the orders for 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 ...

''Marseillois'' and the

64-gun The 64-gun ship of the line was a type of two-decker warship defined during the 18th century, named after the number of their guns. 64-guns had a lower battery of 24-pounders and an upper battery of 12-pounders. Heavier variants with 18-pounders o ...

in queue.

Career

In 1773, she was under

Apchon Apchon () is a commune in the Cantal department in the Auvergne region of south-central France. Geography Apchon is located some 80 km south-west of Clermont-Ferrand, 25 km north-west of Murat, and 30 km south-east of Bort-les- ...

War of American Independence

In 1778, France decided to intervene in the

American War of 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 ...

, and the Anglo-French War broke out. Vice-amiral

was ordered to take the fleet to the Americas. He set his flag on the ''Languedoc'', after her upgrade to 90 guns. His 12-ship fleet set sail on the 18 April 1778. The fleet reached

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

on 8 July 1778, and ''Languedoc'' landed the French ''chargé d'affaires''.Troude, op. cit., p. 13. On 10 of August, the French fleet encountered the English fleets of Admirals Howe and

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

. A tempest broke out, and ''Languedoc'' lost her rigging and steering. The 50-gun raked her, but she was saved by the timely arrival of a French squadron led by Suffren. ''Languedoc'' was Estaing's flagship for his mission to the British colonies in North America, with Boulainvilliers as

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 ...

. She took part in the Battle of St. Lucia in December 1778. ''Languedoc'' then took part in the

Capture of Grenada The Capture of Grenada was an amphibious expedition in July 1779 during the American Revolutionary War. Charles Hector, comte D'Estaing led French forces against the British-held West Indies island of Grenada. The French forces landed on 2 Ju ...

from 2 to 4 July 1779. ''Languedoc'' returned to France, where she was refitted. In 1781, she set sail in the fleet of Admiral de Grasse. She took part in the

Battle of the Chesapeake The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American Revolutionary War that took place near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 1 ...

under Parscau du Plessix. At 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 ...

, ''Languedoc'' was under Captain Arros d'Argelos, and followed the fleet flagship in the French line of battle. The French fleet was parted in two, and ''Languedoc'' retreated, leaving De Grasse to be captured. ''Languedoc'' then joined with La Pérouse, and reached Brest on the 28 June 1783. The subsequent inquiry into the battle found Argelos innocent, De Grasse being found ultimately responsible.

French Revolutionary wars

''Languedoc'' was refitted and upgraded by engineer

Jacques-Noël Sané Jacques-Noël Sané (18 February 1740 – 22 August 1831) was a French shipwright. He was the creator of standardised designs for ship of the line, ships of the line and frigates fielded by the French Navy in the 1780s, which served during the Fr ...

. On the 5 September 1792, she set sail under Admiral de Latouche Tréville. She took part in the campaign off Italy, and was badly damaged in the tempests of December; from 21 to 23, had to assist.Roche, vol.1, p.408 On the 7 February, she took part in the landing of troops in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

. She sailed back to

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

and undertook extensive repairs. Toulon fell to the hands of the English and was retaken by the French. The ''Languedoc'', being deemed unusable, was not destroyed when the English left the city. She was renamed ''Antifédéraliste'' at the height of

Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre fer ...

's power, and renamed again to ''Victoire'' at the

Thermidorian Reaction In the historiography of the French Revolution, the Thermidorian Reaction ( or ''Convention thermidorienne'', "Thermidorian Convention") is the common term for the period between the ousting of Maximilien Robespierre on 9 Thermidor II, or 27 J ...

. As ''Victoire'', under captain Savary, she took part in the campaign off Italy, where she confronted

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

's squadron. She served off Canada in 1796, returned to France, and was deemed too old to take part in the landing in Ireland.

Fate

''Victoire'' was condemned in Brest in 1798 as it is written in her last log.SHD Toulon 2E6.305

Citations

References

* * * (1671-1870) *

External links

*
The "Languedoc" (1761–1798), history of an XVIIIth century Ship of the Line
{{DEFAULTSORT:Languedoc Ships of the line of the French Navy Saint-Esprit-class ships of the line Ships built in France 1766 ships Don des vaisseaux