French ship Alcide (1782)

History
France
Name	Alcide
Builder	Rochefort
Laid down	July 1781
Launched	25 May 1782
In service	January 1783
Fate	Destroyed at the Battle of Hyères
General characteristics
Class and type	74-gun Pégase class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1500 tonnes
Length	55.2 m (181 ft)
Beam	14.3 m (47 ft)
Draught	6.8 m (22 ft)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	600
Armament	74 guns of various weights of shot, later upgraded to 78

The Alcide was a 74-gun Pégase class ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1782.

In 1782, she took part in the American war of Independence in De Grasse's fleet.

She took part in the Battle of Hyères, under captain Le Blond Saint-Hilaire. She was the last ship of the French rear when she was becalmed and had to fight HMS Victory, Culloden, and Cumberland. She managed to damage the rigging of Culloden, but was quickly battered by her overwhelmingly superior opponents. She surrendered to Cumberland at 2h. The frigates Justice and Alceste attempted to take her in tow to safety, but were repelled by gunfire from Victory.

Soon thereafter, a fire broke out, reportedly in her tops^[1] or by her own Heated shots. She exploded 30 minutes afterwards with the loss of 300.

References[]

• Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte française, Jean-Michel Roche [1]
• Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.