Ship of the Line..Brit or French?

bdaric

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Aug 28, 2003
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I saw a fascinating news clip in the DR1 news see below..

My query is that, I thought Ship of the Line referred exclusively to the Royal Navy's Fleet not to any other country's fleet...any offers on this opinion??

The Le Scipion lies in Samana Bay
The French man-of-war Le Scipion, a 74-gunship-of-the-line sank in Samana Bay on 18 October 1782. The ship had taken part in the French blockade of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, stalling Lord Howe's fleet from assisting General Cornwallis's troops at Yorktown, and thereby effectively ending British control of the American colonies. The Scipion was sailing in waters off Hispaniola when it met the 98-gun three-deck London and the 74-gun Torbay. The Scipion and its escort, the 40 gun frigate La Sybille were heavily outgunned and during the chase, the Scipion ran aground on a coral reef in about ten meters of water. Deep Blue Marine Inc. announced the discovery of the remains of the French vessel. Deep Blue Marine spokesperson Terry Leonard said that he had more than a thousand pages of vital information on the Scipion, including blueprints, cargo manifests and crew. Cannons and wine bottles have been recovered along with other artifacts needed to establish the vessel's identity. Deep Blue Marine president Wilf Blum said that the discovery was of great interest to the United States because of its history and that its recovery would soon get underway.
 

Victor Laszlo

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Aug 24, 2004
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My query is that, I thought Ship of the Line referred exclusively to the Royal Navy's Fleet not to any other country's fleet...any offers on this opinion??
I'm sure there are others here who are more expert on the subject than I am, but the short answer is no.

The "Line of Battle", in which the opposing battle fleets formed in straight lines opposite one another and slugged it out, was the standard naval warfare tactic of the time among the European powers.

The ships included in the Line of Battle (the largest, most heavily armed warships) were referred to as "Ships of the Line".

So the term would refer to ships of the main battle fleet of any of the European powers of the day (Holland and Spain, for example), not just to those of Britain or France.
 

Victor Laszlo

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Aug 24, 2004
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Note to Robert

By the way, I'm available if you need someone to moderate the 'Eighteenth Century Naval Warfare' forum.
 

Victor Laszlo

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Aug 24, 2004
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I can tell you've reading those "Horatio Hornblower" and "Allan Lewrie" stories.

Texas Bill
Actually, no, but I've seen "Master and Commander" three times.

On a visit to boston, I toured the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides). We heard about the living conditions, saw the gundecks, learned about the history of the ship and its battles, etc. During the tour, the sailor who gave the presentation mentioned several times that the Constitution is a frigate.

When the tour ended, he asked if there were any questions. In all innocence I said, "So what exactly is a frigate"?

His answer was something like, "Well it's kind of like......it's sort of ......well.....it's.....OK,to tell you the truth, I don't have the slightest idea".

So, maybe this new forum could become a reality. Frigates, anyone?
 

Texas Bill

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Feb 11, 2003
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The role of the"Frigate" was to patrol outsideof the "Line of Battle" and relay orders from the Line Commander to the rest of theLine. later they were assigned to various roles, amoung which were to "Search and Destroy" stragglers and to take "Prizes. also to interdict the flow of supplies being sent via the sea lanes.
While not a "Ship of the Line" per se, they played an important role in the overall tactical efforts of the Admiralty on all sides. They carried a variety of armament and were manned by from 30 to 50 guns of various calibers.
That's all I know about them. Maybe you could add to the body of information about them.

Texas Bill