French ship Cassard (1803)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Cassard.

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
French Navy Ensign France
NameLion, Glorieux, Cassard
NamesakeJacques Cassard
OrderedMay 1795
BuilderBrest
Laid down26 August 1793
Launched24 September 1803
CompletedDecember 1803
Commissioned16 February 1804
Renamed
  • Glorieux, February 1798
  • Cassard, March 1798
Stricken1815
FateBroken up, 1832
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeTéméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement
  • 2,966 tonnes
  • 5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length56.47 metres (185.3 ft) (174 pied)
Beam15.05 metres (49.4 ft)
Draught7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
PropulsionUp to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament
ArmourTimber

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.

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.[2]

See also

Citations

  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.
  2. ^ Roche, vol.1, p. 100

References


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