French ship Dictateur (1782)

The Dictateur was a 74-gun Pégase-class ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1782. She served during the last months of the American War of Independence, and survived to see action in the French Revolutionary Wars.

Construction and early service
Dictateur was laid down at Toulon Dockyard in July 1781 to a design by Antoine Groignard. Launched on 16 February 1782, she had entered service by August of that year. She was renamed Liberté in September 1792 by the Revolutionary government.

Capture
The Liberté was handed over by French Royalists at Toulon to the Anglo-Spanish occupying forces during the occupation of Toulon in August 1793, but was burnt at the subsequent evacuation of that port in December to avoid her being taken back into French service.