Belliqueux (64)
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Origin and History
The ship was built by Salinoc at Brest in 1755 and launched in August 1756.
The ship was captured by the Royal Navy on November 2, 1758 and renamed HMS Belliqueux.
During the Seven Years' War, the ship was under the command of:
- in the French service
- in 1757: Louis Guillouet, Comte d'Orvilliers
- in 1758: René-Roland de Martel
- in the British service
- from November 1758: Captain Thomas Saumarez
- from 1761: Captain Richard Edwards.
The ship was broken up in September 1772.
Service during the War
In March 1758, the ship was part of an important squadron (5 ships of the line and 6 or 7 frigates) being fitted out at Rochefort to escort, from the nearby Isle d'Aix, a fleet of 40 transports with 3,000 troops for America. On April 4, the squadron was attacked by a British squadron under the command of Sir Edward Hawke. The French warships escaped but several merchantmen ran ashore. On May 2, the French fleet finally set sail from Rochefort for Louisbourg under the command of Comte du Chaffault de Besné. The Belliqueux, armed en flûte transported part of a battalion of Cambis Infanterie. On June 10, the fleet landed the troops at Baie Sainte-Anne 80 km northwest of Louisbourg and then followed du Chaffault to Québec before the arrival of the British expedition which captured Louisbourg at the end of July. Du Chaffault's squadron arrived at Québec on June 29. In mid-September, du Chaffault sailed from Québec for France with his squadron. On October 27, he met Boscawen's squadron returning to Great Britain but after a brief cannonade, the two fleets separated. The ship was then disabled by a storm. On November 2, she was sighted off Bristol in the Irish Sea by the Antelope (54) of Captain Thomas Saumarez. Being armed en flûte and disabled, the Belliqueux surrendered without firing a shot. Saumarez was appointed captain of this prize.
In 1761, the ship served in the Mediterranean.
Characteristics
| Guns | 64
| ||||||
| Crew | n/a | ||||||
| Length | 150 ft French feet (48.72 m) | ||||||
| Width | 40 ft 6 in (13.15 m) | ||||||
| Depth | 20 ft (6.50 m) | ||||||
| Displacement | 1,200 tons |
References
Blasco, Manuel, 3 Decks Wiki
- British 3rd Rates
- French 4th Rates
Deschênes, Ronald, Répertoire des vaisseaux de ligne français 1682-1780
Harrison, Simon and Manuel Blasco: Three Decks - Warships in the Age of Sail
Phillips, M., Michael Phillip's Ships of the Old Navy
- HMS Belliqueux (1758)
