Name Saint Michel Laid down November 1738 Out of service 1786 Launched January 1741 Draft 6.3 m | Builder Brest In service May 1741 Construction started November 1738 Length 47 m | |
Class and type Saint Michel class ship of the line | ||
Saint Michel was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.
Career
Built for the Crown, Saint Michel was originally manned by officers of the French East India Company. During the War of the Austrian Succession, Saint Michel was part of a squadron under Admiral de Rochambeau; on 17 August 1744, she captured the 20-gun HMS Solebay near Gibraltar. In 1747, her command was transferred to Navy officers.
In 1761, she was recommissioned in Rochefort under Captain de Lizardais to serve in the Seven Years' War, to served in the Caribbean theatre, but she never actually departed.
During the American Revolutionary War, Saint Michel took part in the captured of HMS Ardent off Plymouth on 17 August 1779. Appointed to Suffren's squadron in the Indian Ocean, she took part in the battles of Trincomalee and Cuddalore, before she returned to France in 1784.
Saint Michel carried out another mission to the Indian Ocean in 1787 before returning to France to be hulked the next year.