French ship Thésée (1790)

Scale model of Achille, sister ship of French ship Thésée (1790), on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris.
History
France
Name	Thésée
Namesake	Theseus
Ordered	19 October 1787
Builder	Rochefort
Laid down	March 1788
Launched	14 April 1790
In service	August 1790
Out of service	7 December 1804
Renamed	Révolution on 7 January 1793 Finistère on 5 February 1803
Fate	Broken up in 1816
General characteristics
Class & type	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement	3,069 tonneaux
Tons burthen	1,537 port tonneaux
Length	55.87 m (183 ft 4 in)
Beam	14.46 m (47 ft 5 in)
Draught	7.15 m (23.5 ft)
Depth of hold	7.15 m (23 ft 5 in)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Crew	705
Armament	74 guns: Lower gun deck: 28 × 36 pdr guns Upper gun deck: 30 × 18 pdr guns Forecastle and Quarterdeck: 16 × 8 pdr guns

Thésée was a 4th rank, 74-gun Téméraire-class ship of the line built for the French Navy during the 1780s. Completed in 1790, she played a minor role in the French Revolutionary Wars.

Description

The Téméraire-class ships had an length of 55.87 metres (183 ft 4 in), a beam of 14.46 metres (47 ft 5 in) and a depth of hold of 7.15 metres (23 ft 5 in). The ships displaced 3,069 tonneaux and had a mean draught of 7.15 metres (23 ft 5 in). 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.

The muzzle-loading, smoothbore armament of the Téméraire class consisted of twenty-eight 36-pounder long guns on the lower gun deck, thirty 18-pounder long guns 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 (dunette). Some ships had instead twenty 8-pounders.

Construction and career

Thésée was laid down at the Arsenal de Rochefort in March 1788. The ship was launched 14 April 1790 and completed the following August. The ship was renamed Révolution on 7 January 1793 and her crew mutinied in September. She took part in the French expedition to Ireland in 1796 under Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley. The ship was renamed Finistere on 5 February 1802. She was condemned on 6 December 1804 and was hulked on 7 January 1805.

Bibliography

• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours [Dictionary of French Warships from Colbert to Today]. Vol. 1: 1671-1870. Roche. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
• Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2