Scipion-class ship of the line

Class overview
Scipion raking HMS London during the action of 18 October 1782.
Name	Scipion
Operators	French Navy
Succeeded by	Argonaute class
Completed	3
Lost	1
Scrapped	2
General characteristics
Type	Ship of the line
Tons burthen	1,500 tonnes
Length	53.8 m (176 ft 6 in)
Beam	14.1 m (46 ft 3 in)
Draught	7.3 m (23 ft 11 in)
Propulsion	Sails
Armament	74 to 78 guns of various weights of shot

The Scipion class was a class of three 74-gun ships of the line built to a design by François-Guillaume Clairin-Deslauriers, the ingénieur-constructeur en chef at Rochefort Dockyard. These were the shortest 74-gun ships built by France since the 1750s, and they were found to lack stability as a consequence. The third ship - originally the Pluton - was 'girdled' (sheathed) with 32 cm of pine at Rochefort in 1799 to overcome her instability, and the design of two further ships ordered at the same dockyard in 1779 were lengthened.

Scipion

Builder: Rochefort Dockyard

Ordered: early 1778

Begun: 10 April 1778

Launched: 19 September 1778

Completed: February 1779

Fate: Wrecked in Samana Bay, off San Domingo on 19 October 1782.

Hercule

Builder: Rochefort Dockyard

Ordered: early 1778

Begun: 1 April 1778

Launched: 5 October 1778

Completed: February 1779

Fate: Razéed to 50-gun frigate in February to June 1794, and renamed Hydre in May 1795; discarded 1797.

Pluton

Builder: Rochefort Dockyard

Ordered: early 1778

Begun: 10 April 1778

Launched: 5 November 1778

Completed: February 1779

Fate: Renamed Dugommier on 17 December 1797. Taken to pieces at Brest in 1805.

Citations

References

Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2017) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626–1786: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.. Seaforth Publishing. 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.

French Navy ship of the line classes timeline, 1750s–1900s

Type	1750s–1760s				1770s–1780s				1790s–1800s				1810s–1820s				1830s–1840s				1850s–1860s				1870s–1880s				1890s–1900s
	50	55	60	65	70	75	80	85	90	95	00	05	10	15	20	25	30	35	40	45	50	55	60	65	70	75	80	85	90	95	00	05
130 gun three-decker																						Bretagne
110-120 gun three-decker		Sans-Pareil class						Océan class
				Bretagne																Valmy
							Terrible class						Commerce de Paris class
90-100 gun two-decker																					Napoléon class
																Suffren class
																		Hercule class
80-gun two-decker			Saint-Esprit class
								Deux Frères				Bucentaure class
									Tonnant class
74-gun two-decker	Hector class
	Magnifique class
		Souverain class
		Diadème class
				Citoyen class
				Marseillois
					César class
							Magnanime class
							Annibal class
							Scipion class
							Pégase class
							Téméraire class
								Centaure class

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