''Robuste'' was a 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

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, designed by Jacques-Noël Sané. She was commissioned under Captain Louis-Antoine-Cyprien Infernet, and was later captained by Julien Cosmao and Antoine Marie François Montalan. From April 1809, she was 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 a squadron. In late 1809, Vice-Admiral Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume was organising shipment of reinforcements to

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. ''Robuste'' became the flagship of a squadron under Julien Cosmao, along with '' Donawerth'', ''Génois'', ''Borée'' and ''Lion'', as well as the frigates ''Pauline'' and ''Pénélope'', and a dozen of transports. The fleet departed

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on 24 April 1809, and returned on 1 May without incident. In October, the squadron attempted another ferry, under Rear-Admiral François Baudin. On 21 October the French were detected by HMS ''Pomone'', which reported to Lord Collingwood's squadron. Collingwood sent his three frigates as a vanguard and sailed with 15 ships of the line to intercept the French. On the morning of 23 October HMS ''Volontaire'' detected and reported the French squadron's position. The British gave chase, but lost contact. detected ''Robuste'', ''Borée'', ''Lion'' and ''Pauline'' at dawn on 24 October, but the fleets lost contact again. Contact was re-established in the morning of 25 October, the French sailing close to the shore, and the chase resumed. In the ensuing Battle of Maguelone, ''Robuste'' and ''Lion'' ran aground around noon near Frontignan. After two hours of fruitless attempts to save the ships, Baudin ordered them scuttled, and they were set on fire in the evening. They exploded at 10h30.

References

* William James, ''The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War By France in 1798 to the Accession of George IV'
p.142
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robuste (1806) Ships of the line of the French Navy Bucentaure-class ships of the line 1806 ships Ships built in France Maritime incidents in 1809 Ship fires Scuttled vessels Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea