French ship Commerce de Marseille (1788)
| File:Commerce de Marseille mg 6180.jpg 1/48th scale model on display at Marseille naval harbour | |
| Career (France) |  |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | Marseille |
| Builder: | Arsenal de Toulon |
| Laid down: | 9-1786 |
| Launched: | 7-9-1788 |
| Completed: | 10-1790 |
| Out of service: | 2-8-1850 |
| Fate: | Broken up in 1856 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Océan class ship of the line |
| Displacement: | 2 700 tonnes |
| Length: | 65,18 metres (196,6 French feet) |
| Beam: | 16,24 metres (50 French feet) |
| Draught: | 8,12 metres (25 French feet) |
| Propulsion: | sail, 3 265 m² |
| Complement: | 1 079 men |
| Armament: |
Lower deck: 32 36-pound guns |
The Commerce de Marseille was a 120-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of the Océan class.
Commerce de Marseille was offered to the King by the Commerce Chamber of Marseille. Built on state-of-the-art plans by Sané, she was dubbed the "finest ship of the century". Her construction was difficult because of a lack of wood, and soon after her completion, she was disarmed, in March 1791.
Commerce de Marseille came under British control during the Siege of Toulon. When the city fell to the French, she evacuated the harbour for Portsmouth. She was briefly used as a store-ship, but on a journey to the Caribbean, in 1795, she was badly damaged in a storm and had to limp back to Portsmouth. She remained there as a hulk until she was broken up in 1802.
References
| French ship Commerce de Marseille (1790)
]]- Dictionnaire de la flotte de guerre française, Jean-Michel Roche
