Magnanime-class ship of the line

A 74-gun French ship of the line similar to the Magnanime-class ships of the line
Class overview
Name	Magnanime
Builders	Toulon
Operators	French Navy
Completed	2
General characteristics
Type	Ship of the line
Displacement	1,800 tonnes
Length	55.6 m (182 ft 5 in)
Beam	14.3 m (46 ft 11 in)
Draught	6.8 m (22 ft 4 in)
Propulsion	Sail
Armament	74 guns: 28 36-pounder long guns 30 18-pounder long guns 16 8-pounder long guns
Armour	Timber

The Magnanime class was a class of two 74-gun ships of the line built for France in the late 1770s. They were designed by Jean-Denis Chevillard, and both were constructed at Rochefort Dockyard.

• Magnanime

Builder: Rochefort Dockyard

Ordered: 1778

Begun: October 1778

Launched: 27 August 1779

Completed: December 1779

Fate: Decommissioned in 1792 at Brest, broken up in 1793

• Illustre

Builder: Rochefort Dockyard

Ordered: 1778 or 1779

Begun: August 1779

Launched: 23 February 1781

Completed: March 1781

Fate: Renamed Mucius Scévola in January 1791, shortened to Scévola in February 1791, and cut down (raséed) to a 50-gun "heavy" frigate between August 1793 and February 1794. Wrecked in a storm on 16 December 1796 during the attempted invasion of Ireland.

References

• Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2017) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626–1786: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.. Seaforth Publishing, 2017. ISBN   978-1-4738-9351-1.
• Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN   978-1-84832-204-2.