French ship Cassard (1803)

Cassard was an improved Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. Along with her sister-ship Vétéran, she carried 24-pounder long guns on her upper deck, a featured normally reserved for the larger, three-deckers capital ships or for 80-gun ships.

Vétéran (sister-ship of Cassard) escaping into the shallow waters of Concarneau harbour. Painting by Michel Bouquet, on display at Brest Fine arts museum.
History
France
Name: Lion, Glorieux, Cassard
Namesake: Jacques Cassard
Ordered: May 1795
Builder: Brest
Laid down: 26 August 1793
Launched: 24 September 1793, as Lion
In service: December 1803
Renamed:
  • Glorieux, February 1798
  • Cassard, March 1798
Stricken: 1815
Fate: Broken up, 1832
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement:
  • 2,966 tonnes
  • 5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length: 56.47 metres (185.3 ft) (174 pied)
Beam: 15.05 metres (49.4 ft)
Draught: 7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion: Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament:
Armour: Timber

Completed as Lion, she took part in the Expédition d'Irlande in December 1796. On 24 February 1798, she was renamed to Glorieux, and eventually to Cassard the next month.

Under Commodore Gilbert-Amable Faure, she took part in the Atlantic campaign of 1806 in Willaumez' squadron, taking two prizes on the way. In August, the 1806 Great Coastal hurricane caused her to separate from the rest of the fleet; she returned to Brest on 13 October.

She took part in Willaumez' attempt to rescue blockaded ships from Lorient and anchored in Rochefort, where she took part in the Battle of the Basque Roads in April 1809. During the battle, she attempted to escape into Rochefort harbour, ran aground, and was refloated by throwing part of her guns overboard. She remained deactivated in Rochefort.

She was eventually condemned in May 1818, and used as a coal hulk in Rochefort, before being broken up in 1832.

See also

References

  1. Clouet, Alain (2007). "La marine de Napoléon III : classe Téméraire - caractéristiques". dossiersmarine.free.fr. Archived from the original on 23 March 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.


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