The Battle of Beachy Head, also known as the Battle of Bévéziers, was a fleet action fought on 10 July 1690 during the Nine Years' War. The battle was the most significant French naval victory over their English and Dutch opponents during the war. The Dutch lost seven ships of the line and three fire ships. Their English allies also lost one ship of the line, whereas the French did not lose a single vessel. Control of the English Channel temporarily fell into French hands but French Vice-Admiral Anne Hilarion de Tourville failed to pursue the Anglo-Dutch fleet with sufficient vigour, allowing it to fall back to the Thames.
Anne-Hilarion de Costentin, Comte de Tourville was a French Navy officer and nobleman who served under King Louis XIV. Born in Paris, he was made a Marshal of France in 1693. Tourville is considered by some as one of the most talented naval officers in French military history.
The French Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, also known as CECMED is a French Armed Forces regional commander. He commands the zone, the region and the Mediterranean maritime arrondissements. He is usually an admiral of the French Navy, and is under the direct authority of the French Chief of the Defence Staff. As of 2015 the position was held by Admiral Yann Tainguy.
Soleil Royal was a French 104-gun ship of the line, flagship of Admiral Tourville.
The Soleil Royal was a First Rank ship of the line of the French Royal Navy.
The Royal Louis was a ship of the line of the French Royal Navy. She was constructed at Toulon between 1666 and 1669 under the direction of Rodolphe Gédéon and served as flagship of the French fleet in the Mediterranean.
The Ponant Fleet was the designation under the Ancien Regime for the naval vessels of the Royal French Navy in the English Channel, Atlantic Ocean and Americas, the latter principally in the French West Indies and New France. The fleet carried out operations such as asserting naval supremacy and protecting convoys. Its counterpart was the Levant Fleet, based in the Mediterranean Sea.
Michel Bégon was a French colonial official and naturalist. He was intendant de la marine at the port of Rochefort and intendant of the généralité of La Rochelle, as well as a passionate plant collector.
The Ministry of the Navy was a section of the French government – apart from the Ministry of War – that was in charge of the French navy and colonies.
Dauphin Royal was a 104-gun ship of the line of the French Royal Navy. She was built at Toulon Dockyard, designed and constructed by François Pomet. She took part in the Battle of Beachy Head on 10 July 1690 (N.S.) and the Battle of Lagos on 28 June 1693, both times as flagship of Lieutenant-Général Louis-François de Rousselet, Comte de Châteaurenault, under Vice-Admiral Tourville. She was decommissioned in 1698 or 1699, and broken up in 1700.
The French ironclad Provence was the lead ship of her class of 10 armored frigates built for the French Navy during the 1860s. Commissioned in 1865, she spent the bulk of her career with the Mediterranean Squadron, often serving as a flagship. The ironclad played a minor role in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, blockading the North Sea coast of Prussia. Provence was decommissioned after the war, but was reactivated in late 1875.
Claude-Élisée de Court de La Bruyère, was a French officer in the French Navy during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV, who ended his career as Vice Admiral of the Flotte du Ponant.
The French ironclad Héroïne was one of 10 Provence-class armored frigates built for the French Navy during the 1860s. She was the only ship of the class to be built with an iron hull. Completed in 1865, the ship was initially assigned to the Northern Squadron, sometimes serving as a flagship. The ironclad played a minor role in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, blockading the North Sea coast of Prussia and a Prussian commerce raider in a neutral Spanish port. Héroïne was decommissioned after the war, but was reactivated in 1876 and was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron.
Palmier was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.
The bombardment of Algiers in 1683 was a French naval operation against the Regency of Algiers during the French-Algerian War 1681–88. It led to the rescue of more than 100 French prisoners, in some cases after decades of captivity, but the great majority of Christian captives in Algiers were not liberated.
The Force X was a squadron of the French Navy, assembled on 29 April 1940, after the outbreak of the Second World War, to deter Italy from striking in the Levantine Sea. It consisted of the old battleship Lorraine; the three modern heavy cruisers Duquesne, Tourville and Suffren; the light cruiser Duguay-Trouin; three destroyers Basque, Forbin, Fortuné; and the submarine Protée.
Brillant was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was first classified as a Second-rank ship, and later reclassified as a Third-rank. She was built between 1689 and 1690 at Le Havre, under supervision by engineer Étienne Salicon. She served until 1719, and took part in the Nine Years' War (1688–1697) and the War of Spanish Succession (1702–1714).
Lieutenant général des armées navales was a naval rank in the French Navy during the ancien Régime and until the French Revolution.
An Escadre d'évolution is a squadron of warships of the French Navy cruising in peacetime for the purpose of training their crew and student officers.
Kingdom of France 
Royal French Navy 
