French ship Actif (1767)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Actif.
History
France
NameActif
Namesake"Active"
Ordered5 March 1743
BuilderBrest[1]
Laid downApril 1767[1]
Launched5 October 1767[1]
Decommissioned1783[1]
In serviceApril 1768[1]
FateSold 1784 for breaking up
General characteristics
Class and typeCitoyen-class ship of the line
Tons burthen1,500 tonnes
Length55.1 m (180 ft 9 in)
Beam14.1 m (46 ft 3 in)
Draught6.8 m (22 ft 4 in)
PropulsionSail
Armament

Actif was Citoyen-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

Career

Actif was built partly with timber recycled from Actif (1752), a 64-gun ship.[1]

She took part in the Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778 under Estienne d'Orves.[1][2] The year after, she was in the Channel as part of Orvilliers's squadron, but she suffered an epidemic that disabled 222 of her crew, and was forced to return to Brest.[1]

In 1780, she was under La Cardonnie, and cruised off Cadiz and Saint-Vincent. She captured the British Hercule, Wright, master, off Saint-Vincent.[3]

On 14 and 15 April 1781, as she was cruising under Brun de Boades, Actif fought an action against the 64-gun HMS Nonsuch.[1]

In February 1782, she cruised off England under Allart de Suville.[1]

Fate

Actif was sold in 1784 for breaking up.[4]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Roche (2005), p. 19-20.
  2. ^ Troude (1867), p. 7.
  3. ^ Archives nationales (2011), p. 277.
  4. ^ Winfield & Roberts (2017), p. 106.

References

  • Demerliac, Alain (2004). La Marine de Louis XVI: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1774 à 1792 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 2-906381-23-3.
  • Lacour-Gayet, Georges (1910). La marine militaire de la France sous le règne de Louis XVI. Paris: Honoré Champion.
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours, 1671 - 1870. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. pp. 325–6. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
  • Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France (in French). Vol. 2. Challamel ainé. OCLC 836362484.
  • Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S. (2017). French warships in the age of sail, 1626-1786: design, construction, careers and fates. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 9781473893511.


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