Régulus was a 74-gun built for the French Navy during the 1790s. Completed in 1805, she played a minor role in the Napoleonic Wars.
Description Designed by Jacques-Noël Sané, the Téméraire-class ships had a length of , a beam of and a depth of hold of . The ships displaced 3,069 tonneaux and had a mean draught of . They had a tonnage of 1,537 port tonneaux. Their crew numbered 705 officers and ratings during wartime. They were fitted with three masts and ship rigged.Winfield & Roberts, p. 87
The muzzle-loading, smoothbore armament of the Téméraire class consisted of twenty-eight 36-pounder long guns on the lower gun deck and thirty 18-pounder long guns on the upper gun deck. On the quarterdeck and forecastle were a total of sixteen 8-pounder long guns. Beginning with the ships completed after 1787, the armament of the Téméraires began to change with the addition of four 36-pounder obusiers on the poop deck (). Some ships had instead twenty 8-pounders.Winfield & Roberts, pp. 87–88
Construction and career Régulus was ordered on 5 April 1802 and named on 7 January 1803. The ship was laid down in July at the Arsenal de Lorient and launched on 12 April 1804. The ship was commissioned on 15 April 1805 and completed in July.Winfield & Roberts, p. 91 During the Atlantic campaign of 1806, she was the flagship of L'Hermite's squadron (also comprising frigates and and corvette ) 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 . The squadron also captured about 20 merchantman, notably including the ships and Plowers ().Roche, p. 374
In 1809, Régulus was transferred to Rochefort. She famously took part in the Battle of the Basque Roads from 11 April 1809, under Captain Jean Jacques Étienne Lucas, where she ran aground between Les Palles and Fouras. For 17 days, the stranded ship defended itself from four British attacks, before refloating and returning to Rochefort. Régulus was scuttled by fire on 7 April 1814 near Meschers-sur-Gironde to avoid capture by the British vessels and .
Citations
References
Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing.