French ship Mont Blanc (1793)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Mont Blanc and French ship Républicain.

Mont Blanc off Marseille
The Mont Blanc off Marseille (detail of this image), by Antoine Roux.
History
French Navy Ensign France
NamePyrrhus[1]
Namesake
BuilderRochefort[1]
Laid downJuly 1789
Launched13 August 1791
CompletedMarch 1793
Renamed
  • Mont Blanc on 7 January 1793
  • Trente-et-un Mai on 7 April 1794
  • Républicain on 18 April 1795
  • Mont Blanc on 4 January 1796
Captured4 November 1805[1]
United Kingdom
NameMont Blanc
Acquiredby capture, 4 November 1805[1]
Fate
General characteristics [2]
Class and typeTéméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement
Length55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)[1]
Beam14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in)[1]
Draught7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)[1]
PropulsionUp to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails[1]
Armament
ArmourTimber

Mont Blanc was a Téméraire class 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the French Navy. In the course of her career, she was renamed no less than four times, reflecting the tides of politics with the French Revolution.

During the Wars of the First and Second Coalitions, Mont Blanc took part in the last actions of the Glorious First of June, in the Croisière du Grand Hiver, in the Battle of Hyères Islands and in Bruix' expedition of 1799; after peace was restored in the Treaty of Lunéville, she served during the Saint-Domingue expedition.

Mont Blanc took part of the vanguard of the French fleet the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, and consequently saw little action as this division was cut off from the battle. The squadron was destroyed during the Battle of Cape Ortegal on 4 November 1805, where Mont Blanc was captured. She was recommissioned in the Royal Navy but never saw action again.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Roche, p.313-314
  2. ^ Clouet, Alain (2007). "La marine de Napoléon III : classe Téméraire - caractéristiques". dossiersmarine.free.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 23 March 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.