The Levant Fleet () was the designation under the

Ancien Regime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Socié ...

for the naval vessels of the Royal French Navy in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. The fleet carried out operations such as asserting naval supremacy and protecting convoys. Its counterpart was the Ponant Fleet, which saw service in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

and in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

Arsenals

At first based in

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

, from the beginning of the 17th century the fleet was based at two specialized arsenals: * At

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, for

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

s (from 1665 to 1750) * At

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 ...

, for the sailing ships

Flagships

The fleet's

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 ...

was traditionally the ''Réale'', flying the flag of (a grand-officer of the crown of France), as seen at the Musée national de la Marine. The flagship was always the most powerful ship present in Toulon. Under

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

this was the either 110-gun constructed in 1667 and destroyed in 1690 or her successor, also named , constructed in 1692. The

gun deck The term gun deck used to refer to a deck aboard a ship that was primarily used for the mounting of cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical prope ...

s of these vessels were painted red, upper decks in blue, picked out with gilding. Under

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

the flagships were the 110-gun constructed in 1780''Majestueux'' was renamed ''Républicain'' (''Republican'') in 1797; destroyed in 1808. and then the 118-gun constructed in 1788.

Vice admirals

The command of the Levant and the Ponant fleets were entrusted on 12 November 1669 to two vice-admirals. The first vice-admiral of the Levant was Anne Hilarion de Costentin, Comte de Tourville, designated as such in 1669. Louis XIV had intended to appoint Abraham Duquesne to share the post, but he died in 1688, and the Comte de Tourville continued in the post until 1701. Although Tourville commanded the fleet during the battles of the reign of Louis XIV, his successors were too old to have likely served at sea. In practice, the squadrons at sea were under officers with the rank of Lieutenant général des Armées navales.

Administration

The Fleet of the Levant was renamed the "Mediterranean Squadron" (''escadre de la Méditerranée'', :fr:Escadre de la Méditerranée) after the French Revolution. The fleet was successively almost annihilated during the

Siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts and the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by forces of the French Re ...

in 1793 and during the battles of the Nile in 1798 and

Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to: * The Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain * Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England Trafalgar may also refer to: Places * Cape Trafalgar, a headland in ...

in 1805. The term "Fleet of the Levant" was temporary readopted after the French Restoration and the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...

References

Bibliography

* Rémi Monaque, Une histoire de la marine de guerre française, Paris, éditions Perrin, 2016, total pages 526 * Michel Vergé-Franceschi, La marine française au XVIII, guerres, administration, exploration, Regards sur l'histoire, Paris, SEDES editions, 1996, total pages 451 {{ISBN, 2-7181-9503-7. * Michel Vergé-Franceschi, ''Toulon: port royal, 1481–1789'', Tallandier, 2002 – 329 pages Navy of the Ancien Régime Naval fleets