Cassard was a 74-gun built for the French Navy during the 1790s. Completed in 1795, she played a minor role in the Napoleonic Wars. She was renamed Dix-Août in 1798, in honour of the insurrection of 10 August 1792, and subsequently Brave in 1803.
Description The Téméraire-class ships had a length of , a beam of and a depth of hold of . The ships displaced 3,069 tonneaux and had a mean draught of . They had a tonnage of 1,537 port tonneaux. Their crew numbered 705 officers and ratings during wartime. They were fitted with three masts and ship rigged.Winfield & Roberts, p. 87
The muzzle-loading, smoothbore armament of the Téméraire class consisted of twenty-eight 36-pounder long guns on the lower gun deck and thirty 18-pounder long guns on the upper gun deck. On the quarterdeck and forecastle were a total of sixteen 8-pounder long guns. Beginning with the ships completed after 1787, the armament of the Téméraires began to change with the addition of four 36-pounder obusiers on the poop deck (). Some ships had instead twenty 8-pounders.Winfield & Roberts, pp. 87–88
Construction and career
Cassard was ordered on 16 February 1793 and laid down at the Arsenal de Lorient in August. The ship was launched on 2 May 1795 and completed in July. She was renamed Dix-Août on 24 February 1798.Winfield & Roberts, p. 89 Later that year, the ship participated in the French expedition to Ireland. On 10 February 1801 Dix-août captured the 16-gun cutter , which she scuttled. On 27 March 1801, as Dix-août sailed with the Mediterranean Fleet, she collided with Formidable and had to return to harbour. On 4 February 1803, her name was changed to Brave.Roche, p. 153
On 26 September 1805, Indivisible and Dix-Août succeeded in shooting away Swiftsures yards and masts, crippling her and so capturing her. Swiftsure had two men killed, two men mortally wounded, and another six wounded; the French lost 33 killed and wounded. She was captured by on 6 February 1806 at the Battle of San Domingo. She foundered shortly thereafter on 12 April 1806 without loss of life while en route to Britain.
Citations
References
Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing.