The César class or Zélé class included two 74-gun ships of the line designed by Joseph Coulomb. They were a development of his earlier 74-gun ship, the Zélé of 1763.
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | César |
| Builders | Toulon Dockyard |
| Operators |  French Navy |
| Completed | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ship of the line |
| Tonnage | 1,500 tons |
| Displacement | 2,900 tons |
| Length | 157½ French feet[1] |
| Beam | 43½ French feet |
| Draught | 20 French feet 8 inches |
| Depth of hold | 29¾ French feet |
| Decks | 2 gun decks |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Complement | 715 (later 734), + 6/12 officers |
| Armament | |
| Armour | Timber |
| Notes | Ships in class include: César, Destin |
- Builder: Toulon
- Ordered: 10 March 1767
- Launched: 3 August 1768
- Fate: Captured and burnt by the British at the Battle of the Saintes, 12 April 1782
- Builder: Toulon
- Ordered: 7 February 1770
- Launched: 21 October 1777
- Fate: Captured by the British at Toulon in August 1793, and burnt by them there in December 1793
Sources and references
edit- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671–1870. p. 223. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
- Nomenclature des navires français de 1715 á 1774. Alain Demerliac (Editions Omega, Nice – 1995). ISBN 2-906381-19-5.
- Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen (2017) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626-1786: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4738-9351-1.
- ^ The French (pre-metric) foot was 6.575% longer than the equivalent French foot.