Tonnant (80)
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Origin and History
This ship of the line was built by F. Coulomb in Toulon (France) from 1740 and launched in 1743.
During the Seven Years' War, the ship was under the command of:
- in November 1759: Captain Saint-Victoret
The ship was stricken off of the fleet in 1780.
Service during the War
On May 2 1758, the ship was part of the French squadron who set sail from Rochefort for Louisbourg under the command of comte du Chaffault de Besné. This squadron transported French infantry to reinforce Louisbourg. On June 10, the squadron landed the troops at Baie Sainte-Anne 80 km northwest of Louisbourg and then sailed for Québec where it arrived on June 29. In the mid-September, du Chaffault sailed from Québec for France with his squadron. On October 27, it met Boscawen's squadron returning to Great Britain but after a brief cannonade, the two fleets separated. The French squadron reached Brest on November 12.
In November 1759, in preparation for the planned invasion of England, the ship set sail for Quiberon Bay with the Brest Fleet. On November 20, she took part in the battle of Quiberon where she carried the flag of the Chef d'escadre Prince de Beaufrémont. After the defeat, during the night of November 20 to 21, the ship along with 7 other French ships of the line hauled in for the Aix Island and took refuge at Rochefort.
To: do campaigns from 1760 to 1762
Characteristics
| Guns | 80
| ||||||
| Crew | 800 to 1000 men | ||||||
| Length | 168' (54.57 m) in French feet | ||||||
| Width | 46' (14.97 m) | ||||||
| Depth | 23' (7.50 m) | ||||||
| Displacement | 1700 tons |
References
Deschênes, Ronald, Répertoire des vaisseaux de ligne français 1682-1780, May 2001
N.B.: the section Service during the War is mostly derived from our articles depicting the various campaigns, battles and sieges.
