The French Navy in 1700

Louis XIV rebuilds the French Navy 1661-1672

The number of vessels in the French navy was recorded as 60 Ocean-going ships and 35 Galleys shortly before 1642¹. This number then decreased to 30 ships and 25 galleys in 1649 and the civil wars then further decreased this number. At the accession of Louis XIV in 1661 his minister Colbert found only 8 serviceable ships (3 third-rates, 4 fourth-rates and 1 fifth rate)². For the 1664 expedition of Gigeri France was able to send 15 or 16 ships, but those had all been bought abroad or only assembled in France.

All this changed when Colbert was charged with re-establishing the navy. He first gave attention to the construction of all parts that were needed to construct vessels, and soon France was able to build its own ships of the line. The French navy then made its first show of strength in 1667 when it assembled a fleet of 60 ships near Brest. In order to further the naval strength of France a kind of conscription was then instituted in the French coastal provinces and this helped in providing the manpower for the navy and ocean-going commerce. In order to construct and secure this navy the French established five principal arsenals at Brest, Rochefort, Toulon, Dunkerque and Le Havre.

The French Navy engages the Dutch

In 1672 it was time to deploy this new naval strength and a squadron of 30 ships of the line was joined to the English fleet which was tasked to destroy the Dutch. However, nothing decisive was achieved by this fleet and after the English deserted the French in 1674 it had to fend for itself. It then fought in some engagements against the Dutch near Sicily and in general it had the advantage. On the other hand the fact that the Dutch were challenging them in the Mediterranean was an ominous sign.

The French navy in the Nine years war

Before the Glorious Revolution the French navy and commerce had little to fear in wartime because the Dutch were only aggressive when France chose to start a war and the English were allied most of the time. The events of 1688 changed that because they solidly allied the two sea powers against France. By themselves the perspectives for the French fleet were still quite good, but it could only face its now far more difficult tasks if Versailles drew the right conclusions from the new strategic landscape.

From 1688 onwards the role of the French navy had changed from supporting continental aggression against the Dutch to guarding French commerce against the aggression of the combined Anglo-Dutch fleets which were continually growing in numbers. This meant that in the long run France could only survive by concentrating on naval warfare or by decisively beating the Dutch on the continent. Both choices were valid courses of action, but sadly France had just before opted for aggression against Spain, Germany and Protestantism.

In actual fighting this at first did not seem to be such a big problem. The French navy started the war against this alliance with successful operations to land and supply the army of King James in Ireland. These were followed by the inconclusive Battle of Bantry Bay (1690)

The French navy in the Battle of Beachy Head or Bevéziers

In 1690 France united its Mediterranean and Brest fleets, and in July 1690 gained a victory in the battle of Beachy Head. This gave the French navy a brief spell of control over the Channel.

The French navy and the Battle of Barfleur

The Battle of Barfleur and the subsequent actions of La Hogue and Cherbourg are described on a separate page. The defeat of Barfleur meant that the French navy could not openly challenge the Anglo-Dutch in the Channel for a few years, but was not fatal to the operations of the French fleet. It could not sensibly decide to sail into the Channel, but it could perform other tasks. These were: to protect merchant shipping; regular operations to hinder alliance shipping and 'privateering'. The French fleet succeeded in one regular operation against enemy shipping by fighting the battle of Lagos (1693), after that it decided on small scale operations. France did try to reinforce its battle fleet by building new ships, but it did not build enough of them. Below is an incomplete table of new ships built 1692-1702.

New ships for the French Navy 1692-1702

The Guerre de Course during the Nine Years War

In 1693 the French navy needed more resources then ever before if it was to escort merchant shipping. At that moment Louis however decided to allot all resources to the army. If he wanted to continue the war this decision was correct³. The consequence was that the navy was starved of resources and was no longer able to operate all its ships. As an alternative policy the 'guerre de course' was developed. It meant that entrepreneurs who wanted to invest in attacks on allied shipping could hire the ships and sailors of the state.

In operations these ships were bundled in groups of up to about a dozen ships and motivated by prize money these indeed performed vigorous attacks. On the surface the results of the buccaneers looked impressive, but in fact French commerce died and in time most of the buccaneers ended up in prison. At the same time only very few new ships were built up to the peace of Rijswijk. All in all this could only spell doom for the French navy and commerce in a future conflict.

The French navy in the war of the Spanish Succession

Notwithstanding its adverse fortunes in the Nine Years War the French Navy had a reasonable number of good ships with professional crews at the start of the War of the Spanish Succession. Because Spain was an ally in this war its strategic position was changed because the coast was friendly from Dunkerque to Toulon and the Anglo-Dutch had no base of operations in the Mediterranean. While the Anglo-Dutch were trying to establish such a base the French navy suffered a serious defeat in the battle of Vigo (1702), but this did not have serious strategic consequences.

The strategic situation was changed when Portugal changed sides in 1703 and Gibraltar was lost in 1704. The effect was that the French fleet was 'locked up' in the Mediterranean where it had a great base at Toulon. This did not mean that the French navy was completely ineffective: At least during most of the conflict it successfully brought in the annual Spanish treasure fleet. The net result of the changed situation was however that the Anglo-Dutch fleets traded around the world, and even in the Mediterranean while French commerce was barred from trading.

French Naval strength during the War of the Spanish Succession

Below is a table with some of the ships I encountered in literature about the era. It's not finished, but does give an impression about the state of the French navy during the War of the Spanish Succession. It's a reflection of how the French Navy went from challenging command of the Ocean in the Nine Years War to trying to keep a hold on the Mediterranean in the War of the Spanish Succession. The attack on Toulon was the final blow for the French navy. A lot of capital ships were scuttled to prevent them from burning, but after the siege they could not be made servicable again. In combination with only a very limited number of new ships being built the French navy ended the war with a limited fleet which held a lot of ships that could not be brought to sea again⁴.

Notes