''Solitaire'' was a

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 ...

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 ...

, built by

Antoine Groignard Antoine Groignard (4 February 1727 – 26 July 1799), was a French naval constructor who developed standard designs for French war ships, and built and improved the dry docks at the French naval bases in Toulon and Brest. Family Groignard was so ...

and launched in 1774, lead ship of her class. She was captured by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

on 6 December 1782, and commissioned as the

third rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Rating When the rating system was f ...

HMS ''Solitaire''. She was sold out of the Navy in 1790.

Career

In 1776, ''Solitaire'' was under

Chef d'Escadre ''Chef d'escadre'' (; literally " squadron commander") was a rank in the French Navy during the Ancien Régime and until the French Revolution. The rank was changed to '' contre-amiral'' by a law passed on 15 May 1791. History The first chef ...

Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

as flagship of one of the three division of the

Escadre d'évolution An Escadre d'évolution (French, literally "Evolution squadron") is a squadron of warships of the French Navy cruising in peacetime for the purpose of training their crew and student officers. History The French Navy started organising Escadre d' ...

that year. In June, she collided with ''Terpsichore'' and both ships had to repair in Cadiz. In 1778, ''Solitaire'' was part of the Third Division of the Blue squadron in the fleet of Orvilliers, and took part in the Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778 under Captain Briqueville. In 1779, she was part of a division under

Louis Augustin de Monteclerc Louis Augustin de Monteclerc (La Rongère, Maine, 1727 – 25 March 1784) was a French Navy officer. He served in the War of American Independence. Biography Monteclerc joined the Navy as a Garde-Marine in 1743. Monteclerc was promoted to ...

, also comprising the frigates ''Inconstante'' and ''Surveillante'', and led an expedition to hunt down privateers. The division returned to Brest on 4 May 1779 with 400 prisoners. Later that year, ''Solitaire'' was attached to a squadron under Orvilliers. She took part in the

Battle of Fort Royal The Battle of Fort Royal was a naval battle fought off Fort Royal, Martinique in the West Indies during the Anglo-French War on 29 April 1781, between fleets of the British Royal Navy and the French Navy. After an engagement lasting four hours, ...

on 29 April 1781 under Cicé-Champion. ''Solitaire'' was part of a squadron that comprised ''Triton'', ''Résolue'', ''Nymphe'', and the brig ''Speedy''. The French squadron sailed on 24 November 1782 from

Saint-Pierre, Martinique Saint-Pierre (, ; ; Martinican Creole: ) is a town and commune of France's Caribbean overseas department of Martinique, founded in 1635 by Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc. Before the total destruction of Saint-Pierre by a volcanic eruption in 1902, it ...

. After a dark night, ''Solitaire'', Captain de Borda, found herself in the morning close to a squadron of eight British ships under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Hughes, which was on its way from Gibraltar. The English gave chase and ''Solitaire'' sailed to delay them and give the rest of the French squadron a chance to escape. At 12:30 and engagement developed between ''Solitaire'' and . As another British vessel approached ''Solitaire'' had to

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

. ''Speedy'' was captured in the same action,Troude (1865), Vol. 2, p.212. after a vigorous defence. In the action, her captain, Ribiers, was killed, together with a large part of her crew.Guérin (1857), Vol. 5, p.124. Among the crew members taken prisoners was the young Swedish naval officer

Johan Herman Schützercrantz Johan Herman Schützercrantz (4 February 1762 – 21 March 1821) was a Swedish naval officer. In his youth, he served with the French in the American Revolutionary War. He participated with distinction in the Battle of the Chesapeake, and was late ...

, who would later become a

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

in Swedish service.

Citations

References

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External links

* Ships of the line of the French Navy Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1774 ships Captured ships Solitaire-class ships of the line {{UK-line-ship-stub