 Scale model ofAchille, a typical French seventy-four of theTéméraire class at the beginning of the 19th century. | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | 74-gun |
| Builders | Numerous |
| Operators | |
| In commission | 1740s–1810s |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | ship of the line |
| Tons burthen | 2,000–3,000bm |
| Length | 161–182 ft (49–55 m) |
| Beam | 46 ft (14 m) |
| Draught | 23 ft (7 m) |
| Sail plan | ship rig |
| Complement | 500–700 men |
| Armament |
|
The"seventy-four" was a type of two-decked sailingship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by theFrench navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently developed64-gun ships. Impressed with the performance of several captured French seventy-fours, the BritishRoyal Navy quickly adopted similar designs, classing them asthird rates. The type then spread to the Spanish, Dutch, Danish and Russian navies.
The design was considered a good balance between firepower and sailing qualities. Hundreds of seventy-fours were constructed, becoming the dominant form of ship-of-the-line. They remained themainstay of most major fleets into the early 19th century. From the 1820s, they began to be replaced by larger two-decked ships mounting more guns. However, some seventy-fours remained in service until the late 19th century, when they were finally supplanted byironclads.
Standardising on a common ship size was an appealing ideal for naval administrators and bureaucrats. Although the seventy-four was a common type, theship classes were not identical, even within the same navy. In the period 1750–1790, seventy-fours could measure from just under 2,000 to 3,000tons burthen. The armament could also vary considerably, with the lower deck mounting 24-pounder to 36-pounderlong guns, and a variety of calibres (sometimes including a fewcarronades) used on the upper deck. Some seventy-fours of theDanish navy only carried 70 guns.[1]
The first 74-gun ships were constructed by the French as they rebuilt their navy during the early years of the reign ofLouis XV. The new ship type was a very largetwo-decker big enough to carry the largest common type of gun (36-pounders) on the lower gun deck, something onlythree-deckers had done earlier. This great firepower was combined with very good sailing qualities compared to both the taller three-deckers and the shorter old-style 70-gun two-deckers, making the 74 the perfect combination of the two. A disadvantage of the 74 was that it was relatively expensive to build and man compared to the older type of two-decker.
The 74-gun ship carried 28 (24-36-pounder) long guns on the lowergun deck, 28–30 (18-24-pounders) on the upper gun deck, and 14–18 (6-12-pounders) on the upper works.[2] Crew size was around 500 to 750 men depending on design, circumstances and nationality, with British ships tending to have smaller crews than other navies. The French had large and small seventy-fours, called "grand modèle" and "petit modèle", the waterline length of a "grand modèle" seventy-four could be up to 182 feet.[3] This was copied by the Royal Navy in about two dozen such ships of its own, such asHMS Colossus where they were known as Large, while the other seventy-fours built to be between 166–171 feet (51–52 m) were known as Common.[4]
The significance of the 74s is hard to overstate, as shown by a summary of the ships of the line for all nations that were in commission at any time during the Revolutionary/Napoleonic Wars period.
Lengthening the hull by one gun port, allowing one additional gun per side on the lower and upper gun decks and on the quarterdeck produced the 80-gun ship. Given the construction techniques of the day, the seventy-four approached the limits of what was possible. Such long hulls made from wood had a tendency to flex and sag over time. Increased maintenance could counter this to some extent, but was of course costly. This limited the success of the even bigger two-deck 80-gun ships that were built in small numbers after the seventy-four had been introduced. Three-deckers did not have the same problem as the additional deck gave more rigidity.
The Royal Navy captured a number of the early French 74-gun ships during theWar of the Austrian Succession (for example,Invincible, captured at thefirst battle of Cape Finisterre in 1747) and theSeven Years' War and was greatly impressed by them compared to its own smallish 70-gun ships. As a result, it started building them in great numbers from about 1760, as did most other navies. Navies that were restricted by shallow waters, such as the Dutch and Scandinavian navies, at least early on tended to avoid the 74-gun ship to a certain degree due to its size anddraught, preferring smaller two-deckers instead. Even so, the seventy-four was a standard feature in all European navies around 1800. Only a handful of 74-gun ships were commissioned into theUnited States Navy; the US Navy's early sea power concentrated on itsfrigates.
The type fell into disuse after theNapoleonic Wars, when improved building techniques made it possible to build even bigger two-deckers of 84 or even 90 guns without sacrificing hull rigidity.
The last seventy-four, the French Trafalgar veteranDuguay-Trouin, was scuttled in 1949. Her stern ornamentation is on display at theNational Maritime Museum, Greenwich. In addition, dozens ofship models exist, produced as part of constructing the real ships, and thus believed accurate both externally and internally.
