French ship Régulus (1805)

The Régulus was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

From 25 May 1801, her armament was upgraded to carry between 80 and 86 guns.

During the Atlantic campaign of 1806, she was the flagship of L'Hermite's squadron (also comprising frigates Président and Cybèle and corvette Surveillant) during L'Hermite's expedition. She patrolled from the Gulf of Guinea to Brazil and the Caribbean. On 6 January 1806 the French squadron captured the 16-gun sloop of war HMS Favourite. The squadron also captured about 20 merchantman, notably including the ships Otway and Plowers.

In 1808, Régulus was in station with the Brest squadron.

In 1809, she was transferred to Rochefort. She famously took part in the Battle of the Basque Roads from 11 April 1809, under Captain Lucas, where she ran aground between Les Palles and Fouras. For 17 days, the stranded ship repelled assaults by the British, before refloating and returning to Rochefort on 29.

Fate
Régulus was scuttled by fire on 7 April 1814 near Meschers-sur-Gironde to avoid capture by the British vessels HMS Egmont and HMS ''Centaur.

Legacy
The scuttling of Régulus occurred off a limestone cliff dotted by numerous caves. The site was named in honour of the ship.