French ship Sans Culotte

Sans Culotte has been the name, or part of the name, of several ships of the French Navy, named after the Sans-culottes:


 * Orient was an Océan-class 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, famous for her role as flagship of the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798, where she blew up specatcularly. She was launched at Toulon in 1791 and was briefly named Sans Culotte before being named Orient.
 * Petite Sans Culotte was a 2-gun tartane, or possibly brig-rigged aviso, launched at Toulon in July 1793 that the Royal Navy captured in August 1793 at Toulon and took into service as HMS Petite Victoire''. She was lost off Cap Corse later in 1793.
 * Brave Sans Culotte was a xebec commissioned in May 1793 or purchased in July 1793 at Toulon. She had a crew of 100 men and carried 14 x 6-guns. The British and Spanish captured her at Toulon in August 1793, but the French Navy recaptured her there in December. She was enamed Citoyen on 30 May 1795, but struck at Toulon in December 1795.
 * Sans-Culotte was a brigantine in service at Toulon in July 1793. The British and Spaniards captured her at Toulon in August 1793. The French Navy recaptured her in December. She was renamed Soigneux or Sougneuse in May 1795, but struck later that year.
 * Sans Culotte was a merchant ship built in New England that the French captured in September 1793 and commissioned as an aviso in October at Bordeaux. She was armed with eight 4-pounder guns, six obusiers, and 10 swivel guns. She was renamed Fortuné in May 1795 and sold in June 1797 at Lorient.
 * Sans Culotte was a corvette of 18 guns commissioned ca. 1795 in the Antilles, where HMS Aimable captured and burned her on 22 September 1795 off La Désirade.
 * Culotte was an aviso commissioned at Genoa in April 1799. The Royal Navy captured her in May 1799 near Sardinia.

In addition to these naval vessels, several privateers and merchant vessels also bore the name Sans Culotte.


 * HMS Scourge (1779), of 16 guns, but with only six 6-pounders mounted, and a crew of 79 men under the command of Captain George Brisac, was off Scilly on 13 March 1793 when she captured the French privateer Sans Culotte, of eight 8-pounder guns and four 12-pounder carronades, and 81 men. In the engagement the British lost one man killed and one wounded; the French lost nine killed and 20 wounded.
 * HMS Cerberus (1794) captured the privateer cutter Hirondelle (ex-Sans Culotte) on 5 November 1796. Hirondelle was armed with ten 6-pounder guns of which she had thrown six overboard during the chase, and had a crew of 63 men.

Citations and references

 * Citations


 * References
 * Winfield, Rif & Stephen S Roberts (2015 Forthcoming) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786 - 1862: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. (Seaforth Publishing). ISBN 9781848322042