French ship Auguste (1779)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Auguste and French ship Jacobin.

Auguste was an 80-gun ship of the line in the French Navy, laid down in 1777 and in active service from 1779. She took part in the Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War and later in the French Revolutionary Wars, notably fighting at the Combat de Prairial. She was lost with most hands during the Croisière du Grand Hiver in January 1795.

Auguste fighting at the Battle of the Chesapeake
History
France
Name	Auguste
Namesake	Augustus, Jacobin Club, Thermidorian Reaction
Builder	Brest
Laid down	December 1777
Launched	18 September 1778
In service	March 1779
Fate	Foundered off Brest on 29 January 1795, most hands lost.
General characteristics
Type	80-gun ship of the line
Displacement	1900 tonnes
Length	60.4 m (198 ft)
Beam	14.9 m (49 ft)
Draught	7.8 m (26 ft)
Propulsion	Sail
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	780
Armament	80 guns 32 24-pounder long guns 30 18-pounder long guns 22 8-pounder long guns
Armour	Timber

Service

Soon after her commissioning, from June to September 1779, Auguste patroles the Channel under Captain de Rochechouart. She took part in the Battle of St. Lucia, the Battle of Fort Royal and the Battle of the Chesapeake under Captain Castellan, as flagship of the Blue-and-White squadron under Chef d'Escadre Bougainville. She was also at the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782.

In 1793, she was renamed to Jacobin and was part of the Brest squadron. She was involved in the Quibéron mutinies in September 1793.

The next year, she took part in the Combat de Prairial, where she followed the flagship Montagne, and failed to prevent HMS Queen Charlotte from breaking the French line.

In December 1794, she was renamed Neuf Thermidor. On 29 January, as she took part in the Croisière du Grand Hiver, she was caught in a tempest off Brest and wrecked with the loss of most of her crew.

References

• Lacour-Gayet, Georges (1910). La marine militaire de la France sous le règne de Louis XVI. Paris: Honoré Champion.
• Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France (in French). Vol. 2. Challamel ainé.