Originally laid down in 1757 as the 90-gun Impétueux, she was renamed Ville de Paris in 1762 in recognition of her construction being paid for by the city of
Paris as part of the don des vaisseaux,
Duc de Choiseul’s campaign to solicit donations for the navy from the cities and provinces of France. She was completed in 1764, just too late to serve in the
Seven Years' War and was placed into reserve. Ville de Paris was one of the first three-deckers to be completed for the French navy since the 1720s.
In 1778, on the French entry into the American Revolutionary War, she was formally commissioned at Brest and assigned as the flagship of Admiral
Guichen. In July, she saw one of her first actions fighting in the indecisive
Battle of Ushant.
At some point during the next two years, she underwent renovations to have her previously unmanned quarterdeck fitted with fourteen small guns that could be manned by individual sailors, thus making her a 104-gun ship.
In 1782, she saw action at the
Battle of St. Kitts, this time as De Grasse's flagship.[4]
Representations of Ville de Paris
The Battle of the Saintes, 12 April 1782: surrender of the Ville de Paris by
Thomas Whitcombe, painted 1783, shows
Hood's
Barfleur, centre, attacking the French flagship Ville de Paris, right.
The Ville de Paris, foundering in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
At the
Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782, the
British fleet under Admiral Sir
George Rodney defeated the
French ships of De Grasse and captured the badly damaged Ville de Paris. No longer capable of sailing with her masts and rudder shot away, the stricken ship was towed by
HMS Namur after the battle enroute to
Port Royal, Jamaica, where she was repaired and prepped for sail back to England to be put into British service.[5]
The ship sank in September 1782 with other vessels, including
HMS Glorieux, when the
1782 Central Atlantic hurricane hit the fleet off Newfoundland under the command of De Grasse's enemy,
Admiral Graves. Ville de Paris sank with the loss of all 500 hands but one, thereafter known as "Wilson of the Ville de Paris".[6]
Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours, 1671–1870. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. p. 469.
ISBN978-2-9525917-0-6.
OCLC165892922.
Originally laid down in 1757 as the 90-gun Impétueux, she was renamed Ville de Paris in 1762 in recognition of her construction being paid for by the city of
Paris as part of the don des vaisseaux,
Duc de Choiseul’s campaign to solicit donations for the navy from the cities and provinces of France. She was completed in 1764, just too late to serve in the
Seven Years' War and was placed into reserve. Ville de Paris was one of the first three-deckers to be completed for the French navy since the 1720s.
In 1778, on the French entry into the American Revolutionary War, she was formally commissioned at Brest and assigned as the flagship of Admiral
Guichen. In July, she saw one of her first actions fighting in the indecisive
Battle of Ushant.
At some point during the next two years, she underwent renovations to have her previously unmanned quarterdeck fitted with fourteen small guns that could be manned by individual sailors, thus making her a 104-gun ship.
In 1782, she saw action at the
Battle of St. Kitts, this time as De Grasse's flagship.[4]
Representations of Ville de Paris
The Battle of the Saintes, 12 April 1782: surrender of the Ville de Paris by
Thomas Whitcombe, painted 1783, shows
Hood's
Barfleur, centre, attacking the French flagship Ville de Paris, right.
The Ville de Paris, foundering in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
At the
Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782, the
British fleet under Admiral Sir
George Rodney defeated the
French ships of De Grasse and captured the badly damaged Ville de Paris. No longer capable of sailing with her masts and rudder shot away, the stricken ship was towed by
HMS Namur after the battle enroute to
Port Royal, Jamaica, where she was repaired and prepped for sail back to England to be put into British service.[5]
The ship sank in September 1782 with other vessels, including
HMS Glorieux, when the
1782 Central Atlantic hurricane hit the fleet off Newfoundland under the command of De Grasse's enemy,
Admiral Graves. Ville de Paris sank with the loss of all 500 hands but one, thereafter known as "Wilson of the Ville de Paris".[6]
Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours, 1671–1870. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. p. 469.
ISBN978-2-9525917-0-6.
OCLC165892922.