French ship Orient (1756)

Orient was an 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, built by Antoine Groignard.

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Orient.
Orient being reduced to a 74-gun
Orient being reduced to a 74-gun
History
France
NameOrient
Laid downApril 1756 [1]
Launched9 October 1756 [1]
AcquiredMay 1759 [1]
FateWrecked, February 1782
General characteristics
Tons burthen3000 tons[2]
Length56.5 metres [1]
Beam14.5 metres [1]
Draught6.8 metres [1]
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement
  • 12 to 15 officers
  • 650 to 734 men[2]
Armament

Career

Orient was built in Lorient for the French East India Company by Antoine Groignard,[3] from April 1756[Note 1] to August 1759.[2] The French Royal Navy purchased her in May 1759.[2] Originally intended as a 80-gun, she was reduced to a 74-gun in early 1766.[2]

On 14 November 1759, under Captain Guébriant, Orient was part of a 20-ship fleet under Hubert de Brienne attempting invasion of Cornwall. She took part in the subsequent Battle of Quiberon Bay.[1]

Orient underwent a refit in Brest in 1766,[1] and again from 1777 to April 1778.[2] The same year, with the outbreak of the Anglo-French War, she took part in the Battle of Ushant.[1]

On 28 December 1778, under Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves, she sailed from Brest to reinforce the French colony of Isle de France (Mauritius) [5] arriving in September 1779, her crew suffering from scurvy.[1] In 1779, she captured the British privateer Vigilant[1] of Bristol, Marshall, master, and brought her to Lorient.[6]

By April 1781, Estienne d'Orves's health had deteriorated to the point where First Officer Bolle was in effective command. [7] After Estienne d'Orves died on 9 February 1782, Suffren put Captain Lapallière[Note 2] in command.[8]

In 1782, as present at the Battle of Negapatam on 6 July 1782, although she did not take part in the action, and took part in the Battle of Trincomalee between 25 August and 3 September 1782. [1]

In the wake of the Battle of Trincomalee, she was wrecked near Trincomalee in Sri Lanka on 8 September 1782, [1] around 0400, when Ensign Jean Anne Christy de La Pallière insisted to sail on his tack rather to effect a turn as the master pilot advised. Orient touched a rock at Pointe-Sale and stopped. She fired a gun to ask for help, and the rest of Suffren's squadron anchored nearby to provide assistance, but as Orient refloated, she ran into another rock nearby and became a total loss.[9] Part of her rigging was used as spare parts to repair Illustre and Héros. [10] The responsible officer, Ensign Christy de La Pallière, who was the son of Orient's Captain Jean Baptiste Christy de La Pallière, was dismissed from the Navy. [11]

Notes
  1. Ronald Deschênes gives 1750 as year of construction.[4]
  2. Sometimes spelt "la Pallière"[8]

Citations
  1. Roche (2005), p. 335.
  2. Demerliac (2004), p. 17, n°17.
  3. Binet (1911). "La construction du vaisseau de 100 canons 'La Bretagne'". Annales de Bretagne et des pays de l'Ouest. 27–2: 218. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  4. Vaisseaux de ligne français de 1682 à 1780 « 2. du deuxième rang »
  5. Cunat (1852), p. 73.
  6. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 1020. 1 January 1779. hdl:2027/uc1.c3049060. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  7. Cunat (1852), p. 87.
  8. Cunat (1852), p. 104.
  9. Cunat (1852), p. 228.
  10. Cunat (1852), p. 229.
  11. Cunat (1852), p. 380.

References
  • Cunat, Charles (1852). Histoire du Bailli de Suffren. Rennes: A. Marteville et Lefas. p. 447.
  • Demerliac, Alain (2004). La Marine de Louis XVI: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1774 à 1792 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 2-906381-23-3.
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922. (1671-1870)
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