French ship Commerce de Marseille (1788)
 1/48th scale model on display at Marseille maritime museum | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name: | Commerce de Marseille |
| Namesake: | Marseille |
| Builder: | Arsenal de Toulon |
| Laid down: | September 1786 |
| Launched: | 7September 1788 |
| Completed: | October 1790 |
| Out of service: | 2 August 1850 |
| Struck: | 1802 |
| Captured: | Seized as prize by Great Britain on 29 August 1793 |
| Fate: | Broken up in 1856 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Océan class ship of the line |
| Type: | Three deck ship of the line |
| Displacement: | 5,098 tonnes |
| Tons burthen: | 2,746 tonnes |
| Length: | 65.18 m (213.8 ft) (196,6 French feet) |
| Beam: | 16.24 m (53.3 ft) (50 French feet) |
| Draught: | 8.12 m (26.6 ft) (25 French feet) |
| Depth: | 25.04 feet |
| Decks: | Three gun decks |
| Propulsion: | sail, 3 265 m² |
| Complement: | 1,079 men |
| Armament: |
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| Notes: |
Length of gun deck was 208 feet 4 inches, the longest of any 3-decker ever built. She was 2746 tonnes burthen, also a record. |
The Commerce de Marseille was a 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of the Océan class. She was funded by a don des vaisseaux donation from chamber of commerce of Marseille.
Built on state-of-the-art plans by Sané, she was dubbed the "finest ship of the century". Her construction was difficult because of a lack of wood, and soon after her completion, she was disarmed, in March 1791.
Commerce de Marseille came under British control during the Siege of Toulon. When the city fell to the French, she evacuated the harbour for Portsmouth. She was briefly used as a store-ship, but on a journey to the Caribbean, in 1795, she was badly damaged in a storm and had to limp back to Portsmouth. She remained there as a hulk until she was broken up in 1856.
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Commerce de Marseille (ship, 1790). |
- Dictionnaire de la flotte de guerre française, Jean-Michel Roche