French ship Saint Louis (1692)

Saint Louis was a second rank two-decker ship of the line of the French Royal Navy. She was armed with 64 guns, comprising twenty-four 24-pounder guns on the lower deck and twenty-six 12-pounder guns on the upper deck, with eight 6-pounder guns on the quarterdeck and six 6-pounder guns on the forecastle.

History
France
Name:	Saint Louis
Ordered:	June 1692
Builder:	Le Havre
Laid down:	June 1692
Launched:	10 December 1692
Commissioned:	February 1693
Fate:	Sold to be taken to pieces in 1712
General characteristics
Length:	136 French feet[1]
Beam:	37.5 French feet
Draught:	20 French feet
Draft:	20 French feet
Depth of hold:	17 French feet
Complement:	380 men (300 in peacetime), + 7/9 officers
Armament:	64 guns

Designed by Joseph Andrault, Marquis de Langeron, and built by Philippe Cochois, she was begun at Le Havre in June 1692 as one of the replacements for the ships destroyed by an English attack at La Hougue in June 1692. She was launched in December 1692 and completed in February 1693.

Saint Louis, along with her sister ship Éole, took part in the Battle of Vélez-Málaga on 24 August 1704 and was subsequently scuttled at Toulon in July 1707, but was later raised. She was sold in 1712 to be taken to pieces.

Citations and notes

1. The French (pre-metric) foot was 6.575% longer than the equivalent English foot.

References

• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. p. 223. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
• Nomenclature des Vaisseaux du Roi-Soleil de 1661 a 1715. Alain Demerliac (Editions Omega, Nice – various dates).
• The Sun King's Vessels (2015) - Jean-Claude Lemineur; English translation by François Fougerat. Editions ANCRE. ISBN 978-2903179885
• Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen (2017) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626-1786: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4738-9351-1.