French ship César (1768)
 The end of the César, by François Aimé Louis Dumoulin. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
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| Name: | César |
| Namesake: | Caesar |
| Ordered: | 10 March 1767 |
| Builder: | Toulon |
| Laid down: | August 1767 |
| Launched: | 3 August 1768 |
| In service: | November 1768 |
| Fate: | Blew up on 12 April 1782 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | César class ship of the line |
| Displacement: | 1500 tonnes |
| Length: | 54.6 m (179 ft) |
| Beam: | 14.1 m (46 ft) |
| Draught: | 6.7 m (22 ft) |
| Sail plan: | Full rigged ship |
| Armament: |
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César was a 74-gun ship of the French Navy. Ordered in the spring of 1767 from the Toulon shipyard, she was launched on 3 August 1768. She saw service in the American War of Independence, and was destroyed in battle during it.
Design
César was a 74-gun ship built according to the standards defined by French shipbuilders in the 1740s. The design aimed to combine good manoeuvrability and armament cost effectively, so as to counter British warships.
Her hull was constructed from oak, while her masts and yards were pine. Elm, linden, poplar and walnut wood was used for the gun carriages, sculptures and carvings. 80 tons of ropes and c. 2,500 m² of sails were made of hemp, with a set of replacement sails stored in the hold. She could operate for several weeks at sea, carrying three months supply of fresh water, supplemented by six months supply of wine. Tens of tons of biscuits, flour, fresh and dried vegetables, meat and salted fish, cheese, oil, vinegar, salt, were also carried, as was live cattle, which would be slaughtered as required.
César carried twenty-eight 36-pounder guns on her lower deck, and thirty 18-pounder guns on her upper deck. In addition, sixteen 8-pounder guns were distributed on the fore and aftcastle. In total César's armament weighed around 215 tons. 6,000 cannonballs, weighing some 67 tons, were carried. There was also around 8 tons of bar, chain and grape shot. 20 tons of gunpowder was embarked, stored in the form of cartridges or in bulk in the depths of the ship. On average, each gun had 50 to 60 cannonballs.
American War of Independence
d'Estaing's squadron (1778-1779)
At the time of the French entry to the American War of Independence, César was under the command of Captain Joseph de Raimondis d'Allons. On 13 April 1778, César sailed from Toulon bound for America, with the 12 ships of the Comte d'Estaing's fleet. The fleet arrived at the mouth of the Delaware River, north of Baltimore, on 8 July and pursued several enemy ships. On 8 August, it forced the straits at New York and entered the mouth of the Connecticut River, where the British forces were anchored. The British burnt seven of their ships and their stores. On 11 August 1778, the César was separated from the squadron by a violent storm at the time when they were about to engage in a battle with the forces of Richard Howe. On 16 August 1778, César battled HMS Iris and then went to shelter in Boston, where she was joined by the other French ships.
In December 1778, after d'Estaing's squadron had transferred to the West Indies, the César took part in the French defeat at the Battle of St. Lucia. On 6 July 1779 César was part of the rear squadron in the hard-fought battle of Grenada against the forces of John Byron. After Estaing's failure to support the Siege of Savannah in October 1779, the César returned to France with the other ships that had arrived on America in 1778 in order to be refitted and to recruit new crew.
De Grasse's fleet (1781-1782)
In 1781, the César left for the West Indies under the command of Charles Régis de Coriolis d'Espinouse in the fleet of the Comte de Grasse. On 28 April she was present at the Battle of Fort Royal, attempting to raise the blockade of Martinique. On 24 May César was part of the squadron which covered the French Invasion of Tobago. On 5 September 1781 César was present at the decisive battle of the Chesapeake, which completed the encirclement of the British forces at Yorktown.
In 1782, still with De Grasse's fleet, César sailed to the West Indies and in January took part in the Battle of Saint Kitts. César was then at the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782, during which she was totally dismasted and then captured by HMS Centaur. In the night after the battle, a fire broke out in the magazine, causing it to explode. The César was destroyed, killing 400 French sailors and 50 British members of the prize crew. The César was one of the twenty ships lost by the French Navy during the American War of Independence.