Bretagne was a large 110-gun three-decker French ship of the line, built at Brest, which became famous as the flagship of the Brest Fleet during the American War of Independence. She was funded by a don des vaisseaux grant by the Estates of Brittany. She was active in the European theatres of the Anglo-French War and of the French Revolutionary Wars, notably taking an important role in the Glorious First of June. Later, she took part in the Croisière du Grand Hiver and was broken up.
Minerve was a diesel–electric submarine in the French Navy, launched in 1961. The vessel was one of 11 of the Daphné class. In January 1968, Minerve was lost with all hands in bad weather while returning to her home port of Toulon.
Étoile ("Star") was a fluyt of the French Navy. She was originally a merchantman named Placelière and was purchased by the Navy while still on the stocks. She was renamed Étoile in April 1763 and re-classed as a corvette. She is famous for being one of Louis Antoine de Bougainville's ships in his circumnavigation between 1766 and 1769, along with Boudeuse.
Royal Louis was a 110-gun ship of the line of the French Royal Navy. She was designed and built at Brest Dockyard by Léon-Michel Guignace.
Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait was a French engineer, hydrographer and politician, and Minister of the Navy.
Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez was a French Navy officer and nobleman who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Willaumez joined the French navy at the age of 14, and proved to be a competent sailor. Having risen to the rank of pilot, he started studying navigation, attracting the attention of his superiors up to Louis XVI himself. Willaumez eventually became an officer and served under Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux in his expedition to rescue Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse and explore the Indian Ocean and Oceania.
Seven ships of the French Navy have borne the name Sans Pareil :
Surveillante was an Iphigénie-class 32-gun frigate of the French Navy. She took part in the Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War, where she became famous for her battle with HMS Quebec; in 1783, she brought the news that the war was over to America. She later took part in the French Revolutionary Wars, and was eventually scuttled during the Expédition d'Irlande after sustaining severe damage in a storm. The wreck was found in 1979 and is now a memorial.
Neptune was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.
Bellone was an Iphigénie-class 32-gun frigate of the French Navy on plans by Léon-Michel Guignace. She took part in the American Revolutionary War in the Indian Ocean with the squadron under Suffren, and later in the French Revolutionary Wars. She was present at the Glorious First of June.
Hermione was a 32-gun Concorde-class frigate of the French Navy. Designed for speed, she was one of the first ships of the French Navy to receive a copper sheathing. At the beginning of the Anglo-French War of 1778, she patrolled in the Bay of Biscay, escorting convoys and chasing privateers. She became famous when she ferried General La Fayette to the United States in 1780 in support of the rebels in the American Revolutionary War. She took an incidental role in the Battle of Cape Henry on 16 March 1781, and a major one in the action of 21 July 1781.
Régulus was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.
Cybèle was a Nymphe-class 40-gun frigate of the French Navy.
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars Égyptienne, or Egypt, which commemorated Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign, was a popular name for French vessels, including naval vessels and privateers. Between 1799 and 1804, warships of the Royal Navy captured one French frigate and five different French privateers all with the name Égyptienne, and at least one privateer with the name Égypte.
Fifteen ships of the French Navy have borne the name Seine in honour of the Seine river:
Brisson was a 22-gun corvette of the French Navy.
Réolaise was a 20-gun ship-corvette of the French Navy. Originally a British merchantman, she was built in England, and captured by the French and taken into naval service in 1793. She served as a convoy escort until she ran aground in combat in 1800 at Port Navalo; her crew scuttled her by fire.
The Battle of Maguelone was a naval engagement which occurred on 25 October 1809 during the Peninsular War between a French Imperial Navy squadron of three ships of the line and two frigates and a six-ship squadron of the British Royal Navy. In a running battle, the French squadron covered the retreat of a convoy they were escorting and attempted to escape from the British by sailing in shallow waters close to the shore of Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone. After two French ships of the line ran aground, their crews evacuated and scuttled them after removing valuable equipment, including the cannons onboard. The remaining ships of the French squadron then escaped to Toulon. A British cutting out party subsequently attacked the convoy off Roses, Girona on 1 November, destroying most of it and capturing three ships.
Charles de Mengaud de La Haye was a French Navy officer. He served in the War of American Independence.
Gros Ventre was an armed storeship of the French Navy. She is notable for taking part in the First voyage of Kerguelen and for her subsequent solo mission of discovery to Australia. Anse du Gros Ventre was named in her honour.
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