Centaure-class ship of the line

The Centaure class was a class of 74-gun ships of the line of the French Navy, comprising four ships, all of which built at Toulon Dockyard to a design by Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb in the year following the close of the American Revolutionary War. After the first two ships were begun, the design was amended for the second pair (which were 5¼ feet longer, and also had slightly less breadth and depth in hold) – which are accordingly often described as the Séduisant Class. All four ships were destroyed or captured by the British navy during the French Revolutionary War.

Ships in class

 * Centaure
 * Builder: Toulon
 * Ordered:
 * Begun: May 1782
 * Launched: 7 November 1782
 * Completed: December 1782
 * Fate: Burnt by the British Navy during the evacuation of Toulon in December 1793.


 * Heureux
 * Builder: Toulon
 * Ordered: 15 February 1782
 * Begun: May 1782
 * Launched: 19 December 1782
 * Completed: April 1783
 * Fate: Burnt by the British after the Battle of the Nile, 2 August 1798.


 * Séduisant
 * Builder: Toulon
 * Ordered: 1 June 1782
 * Begun: August 1782
 * Launched: 5 July 1783
 * Completed: 1783
 * Fate: Wrecked, 16 December 1796


 * Mercure
 * Builder: Toulon
 * Ordered: 1 June 1782
 * Begun: August 1782
 * Launched: 4 August 1783
 * Completed: 1783
 * Fate: Burnt by the British after the Battle of the Nile, 2 August 1798