A number of ships of the French Navy have borne the name Neptune, or a variant thereof:
The French Navy, informally "La Royale", is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces. Dating back to 1624, the French Navy is one of the world's oldest naval forces. It has participated in conflicts around the globe and played a key part in establishing the French colonial empire.
- French ship Neptune (1610) (1610–1615), a privateer
- French ship Neptune (1628) (1628–1641), a 16-gun ship of the line
- French ship Neptune (1652) (1651–1655), a ship of the line
- French ship Neptune (1666) (1666–1671), a 64-gun ship of the line, also known as Illustre
- French ship Neptune (1671) (1671–1679), a 36-gun ship of the line, also known as Beaufort
- French ship Neptune (1679) (1670–1702), a 40-gun ship of the line
- French ship Neptune (1689), a 46-gun ship of the line
- French frigate Neptune (1697) (1697–1699), a 24-gun frigate
- French ship Neptune (1705) (1705–1713), a 64-gun ship of the line
- French ship Neptune (1716) (1716), a 74-gun ship of the line
- French ship Neptune (1724) (1724–1747), a 74-gun ship of the line
- French ship Neptune (1778) (1778–1795), a 74-gun ship of the line
- French corvette Neptune (1780), a corvette
- French schooner Neptune (1780) (1780–1782), a 6-gun schooner
- French corvette Neptune (1793), a 16-gun corvette
- French cutter Neptune (1794), a cutter
- French gunboat Neptune (1795) (1795–1798), a gunboat
- French lugger Neptune (1795) (1795), a lugger
- French schooner Neptune (1799) (1799–1799), a schooner
- French troopship Neptune (1801) (1801–1805), troopship n°188
- French troopship Neptune (1804) (1804–1808), troopship n°262
- French ship Neptune (1803), a Tonnant-class ship of the line launched in 1804, captured by the Spanish in 1808 and renamed Neptuno
- French xebec Neptune (1805) (1805–1814), a xebec
- French brig Nettuno (1807), a brig launched in Venice in 1807, that the Royal Navy captured in 1808 and that became HMS Cretan
- Neptune (1811–1814), an unbuilt 110-gun Commerce de Paris-class ship of the line
- French ship Neptune (1839) (1839–1858), an 80-gun ship of the line
- French battleship Neptune (1892–1908), a Marceau-class ironclad
- French ship Neptune (1914) (1914–1919), an auxiliary minesweeper
- French ship Neptune (1945), an ex-German ship of the Reichsbahn
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. The commission, also known as a letter of marque, empowers the person to carry on all forms of hostility permissible at sea by the usages of war, including attacking foreign vessels during wartime and taking them as prizes. Historically, captured ships were subject to condemnation and sale under prize law, with the proceeds divided between the privateer sponsors, shipowners, captains and crew. A percentage share usually went to the issuer of the commission. Since robbery under arms was once common to seaborne trade, all merchant ships were already armed. During war, naval resources were auxiliary to operations on land so privateering was a way of subsidizing state power by mobilizing armed ships and sailors.
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through to the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside firepower to bear. Since these engagements were almost invariably won by the heaviest ships carrying the most powerful guns, the natural progression was to build sailing vessels that were the largest and most powerful of their time.
A frigate is a type of warship, having various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.
  | This article includes a list of ships with the same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific ship led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended ship article, if one exists. |