 1/28.8th model of Sans Pareil now kept at the Musée de la Marine in Paris | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sans Pareil |
| Operators |  French Navy |
| Planned | Océan, Médiateur, Majestueux, Indomptable |
| Completed | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ship of the line |
| Armament | 116 guns |
Sans Pareil ("Peerless") was a ship of the line project presented to Louis XV between 1757 and 1760. No actual ship of this type bore the name in the French Navy, though Royal Louis was built on the scheme.
Sans Pareil was a project to build a series of ships taking into account new improvements in ship design. The name was suggested twice to Louis XV; in 1751, the king preferred Océan, and in 1757, Royal Louis, Médiateur, Majestueux, and Indomptable. [1] Only Royal Louis was actually built; due to the huge costs of construction, the three others were replaced with smaller-sized ships of the line.
Sans Pareil only existed as a 1⁄1/30th model which is now kept at the Musée de la Marine in Paris. It is very likely to offer only very minor differences to what Royal Louis was like when she was launched at Brest in 1759. [2]
The figurehead featured a lion. The ornaments of the aft were simplified, integrating the overall lines and structure of the ship. [2]
Annibal was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was designed by Jacques-Noël Sané, and was one of the earliest of his works. She was built at Brest in 1778.
Count Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte, also known as La Motte-Picquet was a French Navy officer and admiral. Over a career spanning 50 years, he served under Louis XV and Louis XVI and took part in 34 campaigns. He fought in the Seven Years' War and in the Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War, earning the ranks of Commandeur in the Order of Saint Louis in 1780, and of Grand Cross in 1784. He died during the French Revolution.
The Royal Louis was a 116-gun ship of the line of the Royal French Navy, designed in 1757 by Jacques-Luc Coulomb and constructed in 1757 to 1762 by Laurent Coulomb at Brest Dockyard. She was the fourth ship to bear the name, and the only ship of the Sans-Pareil design ever built.
Soleil Royal was a French 104-gun ship of the line, flagship of Admiral Tourville.
The Musée national de la Marine is a maritime museum located in the Palais de Chaillot, Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. It has annexes at Brest, Port-Louis, Rochefort, and Toulon. The permanent collection originates in a collection that dates back to Louis XV of France.
The Louis XV style or Louis Quinze is a style of architecture and decorative arts which appeared during the reign of Louis XV. From 1710 until about 1730, a period known as the Régence, it was largely an extension of the Louis XIV style of his great-grandfather and predecessor, Louis XIV. From about 1730 until about 1750, it became more original, decorative and exuberant, in what was known as the Rocaille style, under the influence of the King's mistress, Madame de Pompadour. It marked the beginning of the European Rococo movement. From 1750 until the King's death in 1774, it became more sober, ordered, and began to show the influences of Neoclassicism.
The Océan-class ships of the line were a series of 118-gun three-decker ships of the line of the French Navy, designed by engineer Jacques-Noël Sané. Fifteen were completed from 1788 on, with the last one entering service in 1854; a sixteenth was never completed, and four more were never laid down.
Artésien ('Artesian') was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was funded by a don des vaisseaux donation from the Estates of Artois.
Louis Quinze is a 1/36 scale model of a ship of the line of the French Navy, currently on display at the Musée national de la Marine. No actual ship of the French Navy bore the name or was built to these specifications.
Seven ships of the French Navy have borne the name Sans Pareil :
HMS Sans Pareil("Without Equal") was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was formerly the French ship Sans Pareil, but was captured in 1794 and spent the rest of her career in service with the British.
Dauphin Royal was a 74-gun ship of the line of the Royal French Royal Navy, designed in 1735 by Blaise Ollivier and constructed in 1735 to 1740 at Brest Dockyard.
Audacieuse was an Ardente-class frigate of the French Navy.
The 12-pounder long gun was an intermediary calibre piece of artillery mounted on warships of the Age of sail. They were used as main guns on the most typical frigates of the early 18th century, on the second deck of fourth-rate ships of the line, and on the upper decks or castles of 80-gun and 120-gun ships of the line. Naval 12-pounders were similar to 12-pound Army guns in the Gribeauval system: the canon lourd de 12 Gribeauval, used as a siege weapon, and the canon de 12 Gribeauval, which was considered a heavy field artillery piece.
The Trianon model collection is a set of high-quality ship models ordered by Napoléon for documentary purposes.
Intrépide was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was of three ships of the Monarque class, all launched in 1747, the others being Monarque and Sceptre.
Jean-Gaspard Heilmann was an 18th-century French painter, author of popular landscapes, historical scenes and fine portraits. He was the first Mulhouse painter who enjoyed a certain notoriety in Paris.
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).
Singe was a Renard-class xebec of the French Navy, launched in 1762. She served in the Mediterranean against the Barbary pirates, and is notable for a number of important officers who served aboard, notably Flotte, Raimondis and Suffren.
Comète was a 30-gun French Navy frigate built during the wave of French naval construction that separated the end of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1748 from the start of the Seven Years' War in 1755.