French ship Orion (1787)

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Tourville (left) raking HMS Defence (centre) at the Battle of Prairial, while Mucius Scævola (ex-Orion, right) duels with her on her port side. Painting by Nicholas Pocock
History
French Navy Ensign France
NameOrion
Namesake
BuilderRochefort
Laid downOctober 1784
Launched18 April 1787
Completed1788
Stricken23 March 1804
FateBroken up in 1804
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeTéméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement
  • 1,966 tonnes
  • 3,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)
Beam14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in)
Draught7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
PropulsionUp to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament
ArmourTimber

Orion was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

Career[edit]

In 1790, Orion was under Buor de La Charoulière.[2]

She took part in fighting on the coast of Italy. In 1793, she was renamed Mucius Scævola, soon shortened to Mucius.[3]

In 1794 she took part in the battle of the Glorious First of June (Combat du 13 prairial an II), helping the Impétueux battling HMS Marlborough, as well as in both the First Battle of Groix and the Battle of Groix in June 1795.[3]

In December 1796 she took part in the Expédition d'Irlande, an attempt at landing an army in Ireland, before being struck and broken up in Brest.[3]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Clouet, Alain (2007). "La marine de Napoléon III : classe Téméraire - caractéristiques". dossiersmarine.free.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 23 March 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  2. ^ Taillemite (1982), p. 51.
  3. ^ a b c Roche, p.336

References[edit]