French ship Vétéran (1803)

The Vétéran was a development from the Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, one of two ships of a sub-class of which the other vessel was the Cassard. The two ships, both built by Pierre Ozanne at Brest to the plans of Jacques-Noël Sané, were enlarged from the earlier class in order to carry an upper deck battery of 24-pounder long guns, instead of the 18-pounder long guns used on the regular units of the Téméraire class.

Ordered as Magnanime, she was renamed to Quatorze Juillet on 7 May 1798, and eventually to Vétéran on 6 December 1802.

On 13 December 1805, captained by Jérôme Bonaparte, she departed Brest as a unit of Willaumez division, in the context of the Atlantic campaign of 1806. The division was scattered by a hurricane and Vétéran found herself isolated. She cruised off Quebec, destroying merchantmen and skirmishing with Royal Navy forces. She eventually returned to France and escaped the British blockade by fleeing into Concarneau, thanks to the experience of a sailor who had been a fisherman in the region. Vétéran found herself trapped, however, and could not exit the harbour for years. At some point before 1812, she made it to Lorient.

In 1812, she took part in Allemand's escape from Lorient, sailing from Lorient to Brest under captain Jurien de Lagravière.

She was eventually decommissioned in 1833, and broken up in 1842.

Sources and references

 * Ships of the line