History
France
Name	Foudroyant
Namesake	Coup of 18 fructidor an V "Lightning"
Laid down	November 1793
Launched	18 May 1799
Completed	August 1800
Commissioned	28 March 1801
Renamed	Dix-huit fructidor in December 1797; restored to Foudroyant in February 1800
Fate	Struck 26 October 1833; broken up in 1834
General characteristics
Class and type	Tonnant-class ship of the line
Displacement	3,868 tonnes
Tons burthen	2,034 tonnes
Length	59.28 m (194 ft 6 in)
Beam	15.27 m (50 ft 1 in)
Draught	7.8 m (25 ft 7 in)
Depth of hold	7.64 m (25 ft 1 in)
Propulsion	Sail
Complement	866 in wartime; 626 in peacetime
Armament	80 guns 30 36-pounder long guns 32 24-pounder long guns 18 12-pounder long guns 4 obusiers de vaisseau
Armour	Timber

The Foudroyant ("Lightning") was a Tonnant-class 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

She was started in Rochefort from 1793, and renamed to Dix-huit fructidor in December 1797 in honour of the Jacobin Coup of 18 Fructidor, as she was still on the stocks, but reverted to Foudroyant in February 1800 before completion, after the Directory fell.

She took part in cruises in the Caribbean under Villaret de Joyeuse.

On 15 September 1806, while under jury rig some 15 miles (24 km) off Havana, she encountered HMS Anson, under Captain Charles Lydiard. Anson, mistakenly believing Foudroyant distressed, attacked, and was driven off.

She took part in the Battle of the Basque Roads, in which she was badly damaged but was later repaired.

She was eventually broken up in 1834.

• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671–1870. p. 211. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.

• Les bâtiments ayant porté le nom de Foudroyant
• 1809 - Fouras (17) - La bataille des brûlots à bord du vaisseau "le Régulus"
• The French Navy in 1816