Vengeur du Peuple ("Avenger of the People") was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. Funded by a don des vaisseaux donation from the Chamber of Commerce of Marseille, she was launched in 1766 as the Marseillois.The name is sometimes written Marseillais, which is the modern orthography. See The dictionary of French naval fighting ships - General remarks for details. She took part in the naval operations in the American Revolutionary War in the French fleet under Admiral Charles Henri Hector, Count of Estaing, duelling HMS Preston in a single-ship action on 11 August 1778, taking part in the Battle of the Chesapeake where she duelled HMS Intrepid, and supporting the flagship Ville de Paris at the Battle of the Saintes. She also took part in the Battle of Saint Kitts.
After the loss of the 74-gun French ship Vengeur (launched 1789) in June 1793, the 28-year-old Marsellois was renamed Vengeur du Peuple in February 1794The name is often shortened to Vengeur. See French ship Vengeur for details. and under that name she took part in the Battle of the Glorious First of June. There, she was disabled after a furious duel with HMS Brunswick and surrendered after losing hope of being rescued by a French ship. After a few hours, as British ships were beginning rescue operations, she listed and foundered, taking almost half her crew with her. Thus she only bore the name Vengeur du Peuple for a few weeks compared with her 28 years of service as the Marsellois.
The sinking of Vengeur du Peuple was used as propaganda by the National Convention and Bertrand Barère, who gave birth to the legend that the crew had gone down with the ship fighting, rather than surrender. The Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle repeated the tale in his The French Revolution: A History, yielding a rebuttal by Rear-Admiral John Griffiths, who had witnessed the events. Although discredited in naval history circles, the legend lived on as a folk tale, inspiring numerous representations and a fictional account by Jules Verne in his 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.
Career The French Navy had lost 29 ships during the Seven Years' War, casualties being particularly high at the Battle of Lagos and the Battle of Quiberon Bay. To replace these losses, in 1761 the Duke of Choiseul launched subscriptions, called don des vaisseaux, whereby French individuals and organisations could donate to the Crown the funds necessary to build and equip a warship. 13 million livres were raised and 18 ships, including two three-deckers, were built and named after their patrons. The Marseillois was funded by the chamber of commerce of Marseille, for 500,000 livres.Under Louis XVI, a French livre contained 0.29 grammes of pure gold ; this puts Marseillois worth at of gold. For a 110-gun ship like Bretagne, the raw wood was already worth 490,000 livres, and the total construction cost amounted to 1,150,000 livres (see Les Européens et les espaces océaniques au XVIIIe siècle, p.17)
Marseillois was ordered on 16 January 1762, originally intended to be built in Toulon on a design by the engineer Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb, and named the same day by Louis XV, following the request of her patrons. The chamber of commerce of Marseille further requested that the ship be built in Marseille, but Coulomb determined that the harbour there was too shallow for the launch of a 74-gun ship, and the order for Marseillois was eventually moved to Toulon. There, lack of timber in the shipyards, which were already busy building Languedoc, Zélé and Bourgogne, delayed the construction of Marseillois until 1764. Her design and building was directed by the engineer Joseph-Véronique-Charles Chapelle.Diaz de Soria, Le Marseillois, p. 10.Deschênes
She was launched on 16 July 1766, and completed quickly, decorated by sculptures carved by Pierre Audibert. After her completion, she was put in reserve, where she would remain for 11 years. On 1 February 1778, Marseillois was hove down for maintenance and repairs of her hull, which was found to be in "very good shape", although her keel had hogged by ;not an uncommon figure for ships of the era maintenance completed two days later, and she was commissioned under Captain Louis-Armand de La Poype de Vertrieu.
American Revolutionary War
The outbreak of the American Revolutionary War had caused relations between France and Great Britain to deteriorate, and diplomatic ties were broken on 16 March 1778. Admiral Charles Henri Hector, Count of Estaing took command of a fleet of thirteen ships of the line and four frigates in Toulon. Marseillois was assigned to this fleet, the first active service she would see.Amédée Gréhan, La France maritime, p.300 The fleet set sail on 18 April 1778, crossed Gibraltar on 16 May, and arrived at the mouth of the Delaware River on 8 July.Troude, Batailles navales, p. 12.
Campaign of 1778–1780, La Poype de Vertrieu
The French fleet arrived unopposed off New York City on 8 July. British forces there amounted to a fleet of nine smaller ships of the line and two frigates under Admiral Richard Howe; in order to avoid battle with the larger French fleet, Howe retreated under the protection of the strong defences of New York. Estaing wished to press the attack, but his pilots advised that the harbour was too shallow for his ships, so the French fleet spent two weeks at anchor blockading Howe, resupplying and conferring with the Continental Congress.Troude, Batailles navales, p. 13. On 22 July, he departed for Newport to join the American Revolutionaries, where he arrived on 28 July and anchored his fleet outside the harbour to better coordinate his attack with that of the Revolutionary land forces. Marseillois anchored in front of the main channel with most of the fleet, while Fantasque, Sagittaire and the frigates blockaded the Sakonnet River, and Protecteur and Provence blocked the Connecticut River.Troude, Batailles navales, p. 14.
On 8 August, the French fleet sailed into Newport harbour, Marseillois coming sixth in the line. They had begun to disembark troops the following day when Howe's fleet arrived from New York. Estaing found his anchored ships were now vulnerable to attacks from land batteries, warships and fireships, and cancelled the landing, putting to sea to challenge Howe in battle.Troude, Batailles navales, p. 15 Howe's force moved off, pursued by the French. On 11 August the French closed in and the two fleets manoeuvred in preparation for a battle, but around 16:00, a Nor'easter storm broke out, scattering both fleets. Marseillois sustained damage to her rigging, losing her mizzen and her bowsprit, and was cut off from the bulk of the French fleet. The next day, around 20:00, having only just erected jury rigging, she was attacked by the 50-gun HMS Preston, under William Hotham. The two ships duelled indecisively for one hour before parting. Marseillois rejoined the French fleet on 14 August.Troude, Batailles navales, p. 16.
Marseillois took part in the Battle of St. Lucia in September, coming third in the French line of battle,Troude, Batailles navales, p. 19 and was present at other encounters with the British fleets in the Anglo-French War. The next year, on 6 July 1779, Marseillois took part in the Battle of Grenada, sailing in the rear of the French fleet. Later in the year, she took part in the siege of Savannah, where she was eighth in the line of battle.Troude, Batailles navales, p. 42
The French fleet sustained damage at the siege of Savannah and eventually returned to Europe. Marseillois returned to Toulon with Zélé, Sagittaire, Protecteur, and Experiment.Troude, Batailles navales, p. 46 During the campaign, 46 members of her crew had died; of these, only three had been killed in combat.
La Poype de Vertrieu wrote his report and recommendations for the refitting of Marseillois on 24 December 1779; he found her a passable ship, but her high poop hindered her sailing when running, and he recommended improvements to the gun ports of the castles, which were obstructed and allowed only two guns on the quarterdeck and one on the forecastle to be used. Furthermore, substantial repairs on the rigging were needed, and she needed her hull heated to kill worms. La Poype de Vertrieu wrote "it appears that Marseillois shall never be an exceptional sailor, but I am convinced that she will give satisfaction".Diaz de Soria, Le Marseillois, p. 51.Translated from the original: "Il est apparent que Le Marseillois n'aura jamais une marche distinguée, mias je suis persuadé que l'on en sera content quand on le naviguera à trente pouces de différence et que l'on évitera de trop entasser les poids sur son avant." Original quote in Diaz de Soria, Le Marseillois, p. 51.
Campaign of 1780, Albert de Rions
After the repairs had been completed, Captain François-Hector d'Albert de Rions was given command of Marseillois. She was appointed to a two-ship squadron under Pierre André de Suffren, who had his flag on Zélé. They set sail on 19 May 1780 to patrol off Portugal, and joined up with a division under Rear-Admiral de Beausset in Cádiz on 17 June.Diaz de Soria, Le Marseillois, p. 11. On 6 November, Marseillois departed Cádiz with a joint Franco-Spanish fleet under Estaing, bound for Brest, where she arrived on 3 January 1781.
Campaign of 1781–82, Castellane Majastre
In Brest, command of Marseillois passed to Captain Henri-César de Castellane Majastre, and she became part of a fleet under Admiral François Joseph Paul de Grasse. Champmartin was the first officer, and a young Pierre-Charles Villeneuve served aboard as an ensign.Villeneuve, vice-amiral On 22 March 1781, the fleet sailed for America to reinforce Estaing's forces there, arriving off Martinique on 29 April. There, the fleet met the British forces under Admiral Hood, and the Battle of Fort Royal broke out, an inconclusive long-ranged artillery duel that lasted until the British retreated the next day due to the damage sustained by HMS Intrepid, Centaur and Russell.Troude, Batailles navales, p. 102
De Grasse put to sail on 5 July, bound for Saint-Domingue where he arrived on 16 July. At Cap-Français, the fleet joined with the frigate Concorde, under Captain de Tanouarn, which brought news of the status and plans of the Continental Army. Letters from Washington and Rochambeau requested that de Grasse set sail either to New York, or into Chesapeake Bay. Reinforcing his fleet with a squadron under Admiral de Monteil and with 3,300 soldiers taken from the garrisons of the island, De Grasse decided to sail for the Chesapeake.Troude, Batailles navales, p. 105.
On 5 September 1781, the French and British fleets met in the Battle of the Chesapeake. Marseillois was in the van of the French fleet, and exchanged the first shots of the day with the 64-gun HMS Intrepid, under Captain Anthony Molloy.Morrissey, p.55 In early April, Marseillois took part in the four-day Battle of the Saintes. She was sailing at the rear of the fleet, and the French and British ships were already trading shots for ten minutes when she took her position in the line of battle.Troude, Batailles navales, p. 156 Later in the afternoon, she maintained a position in the line ahead of the flagship Ville de Paris, and supported her until she struck her colours,Troude, Batailles navales, p. 155 at which point Admiral de Vaudreuil ordered the fleet to regroup and follow him to Saint-Domingue. The fleet reached Cap-Français in several waves, the main corps arriving on 25 April; Marseillois, along with Hercule, Pluton and Éveillé, arrived on 11 May.Troude, Batailles navales, p. 158
On 25 and 26 January 1782, Marseillois took part in the Battle of Saint Kitts, where she held the 5th position in the line of battle.Troude, Batailles navales, p. 215 Marseillois returned to France at some point in 1782, where she was listed on 1 September to be decommissioned.
Campaign of 1782–83, Lombard