Although the history of the French Navy goes back to the Middle Ages, its history can be said to effectively begin with Richelieu under Louis XIII.
Since the establishment of her present territory, France had to face three major challenges on the naval level: Geographically France had two large sections of coastline separated by the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), so she had to keep two naval forces and divide resources between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Politically and strategically France's main threats came overland from Central Europe which required a strong army rather than a strong navy. Inconsistent support for her navy. To be effective, navies require infrastructure, ports, dockyards, foundries which must be maintained in peacetime. Officers and crews need plenty of experience at sea. Shortage of resources and political misunderstanding repeatedly damaged the service, creating a series of brilliant eras followed by disasters.
The history of the French Navy can be divided into the following eras: The creation of the first actual State Navy, under Louis XIII, thanks to the politics of Richelieu. This navy was largely ruined by the troubles of the Fronde. A rebuilt and brilliant era under Louis XIV, largely thanks to Jean-Baptiste Colbert. The effort was not pursued under the Régence of Philippe d'Orléans and the beginning of the reign of Louis XV; consequently, the Seven Years' War and the French and Indian War ended in disaster. A period of rebirth under the direction of Étienne François de Choiseul, Duke of Choiseul, which culminated under Louis XVI with de Grasse's victory at the Battle of the Chesapeake during the American Revolutionary War. In the same period, explorers like Bougainville expanded French geography, naval maps, and founded outposts. The downfall occurred during the French Revolution and the First Empire, leaving the British with undisputed control of the seas (see French Imperial Navy). Under Napoleon III, a modern navy was built, taking advantage of new technologies like steam and ship armour, which made older fleets effectively obsolete. This force was an important instrument in the constitution and keeping of the French Empire. The fleet maintained a high standard, and between the two world wars (1925–1939), a significant effort was made counter the threat of the German and Italian navies. With the Fall of France in 1940, most of the Navy never got a chance to fight. What survived Mers-el-Kebir was eventually annihilated in the scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon.
Name The French Navy is affectionately known as La Royale ("the Royal"). The reason for this nickname is uncertain. Speculation includes: it might be for its traditional attachment to the French monarchy; because, before being named "nationale", the Navy had been named "royale" (the navy did not sport the royal titles common with other European navies like the British Royal Navy); or simply because of the location of its headquarters, rue Royale in Paris.
Middle Ages
Medieval fleets, in France as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into naval service in time of war. But the early beginning of the French navy goes back to the Middle Ages, when it defeated the English navy at the Battle of Arnemuiden,Jean-Claude Castex, Dictionnaire des batailles navales franco-anglaises, Presses de l'Université Laval, 2004, p. 21 on 23 September 1338. The Battle of Arnemuiden was also the first naval battle using artillery.Jean-Claude Castex, Dictionnaire des batailles navales franco-anglaises, Presses de l'Université Laval, 2004, p. 21 The most notable naval battle fought by the French during the Middle Ages was the Battle of Sluys, where the English navy inflicted a crushing defeat; the French lost almost 200 ships and up to 20,000 men killed or drowned while the English lost only 2 ships and 600 men.
Louis XIII and Richelieu
During the reign of Henry IV, France was in an unstable state, and striving to guarantee her independence from Spanish and papal influences. This prompted both an emphasis on land forces, which drained resources, and an alliance with England, which would have unfavourably seen France challenging her naval supremacy. When Richelieu became Minister of the Navy, he decided on a plan to rebuild a powerful navy, divided into two distinct forces.
The Mediterranean force was to be completely composed of galleys, to take advantage of the relatively calm sea. Initially, the plan called for 40 galleys, but was downsized to 24 of them, notably because of a lack of galley slaves — each galley was 400 or 500 slave strong.
The oceanic force was to be composed of men-of-war. The designs were moderately large ships, for a lack of harbours fit for very large units, but very heavily armed with large calibre guns; these ships displaced between 300 and 2000 tonnes and bore up to 50 24-pound cannons, firing 150mm-round shots. The first ships were ordered from the Dutch, and French production started with the famous , a prestige ship typical of this era.
In 1627, the Navy was not ready to challenge the English fleet at the Siege of La Rochelle, which led to the construction of a seawall to establish a blockade. Fleets of this period were often largely composed of merchant vessels, hastily loaded with cannons, undercrewed and poorly handled.Jenkins, History of the French Navy, pp. 15–31,
With newly built ships, designed as ships of war and crewed by sailors and trained gunners, fighting experience was gained in the Franco-Spanish War and the Thirty Years' War with notable victories at the Battle of Cádiz (1640) won by France's first Grand Admiral Jean Armand de Maillé-Brézé, son of Marshall Urbain de Maillé-Brézé and nephew of Cardinal Richelieu. The Navy built a French empire, conquering the "Nouvelle-Guyenne" (now Acadia), "Nouvelle France" (now Canada), Tortuga, Martinique, Guadeloupe, several other islands in the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Madagascar.
Louis XIV and Colbert
Under the tutelage of the "Sun King," the French Navy was well financed and equipped, managing to score several early victories in the Nine Years' War against the Royal Navy and the Dutch Navy. Financial troubles, however, forced the navy back to port and allowed the English and the Dutch to regain the initiative. Under the impulsion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert's ambitious policy of ship building, the French Navy began to gain a magnificence matching the symbolism of the Louis XIV era, as well as an actual military significance. The ship of the line is illustrative of the trend of the time. Colbert is credited with forging a good part of the naval tradition of France. The French Navy of this period was also in the forefront of the development of naval tactics. Paul Hoste (1652–1700) produced the first major work on naval tactics.L'Art des Armées Navales ou Traité des Evolutions Navales, see Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail, Brian Tunstall, 1990, pp. 59–64, Before the Nine Years' War, in the Franco-Dutch War, the French Navy managed to score a decisive victory over a combined Spanish-Dutch fleet at the Battle of Palermo (1676).
During the Nine Years' War, Admiral Anne Hilarion de Tourville won a significant victory in the Battle of Beachy Head, by which France gained control of the English Channel. The event is regarded as one of the most glorious deeds of the French Navy, and Tourville earned a fame which lasts to present times (a number of ships were named Bévezier or to commemorate the battle).The Battles of Barfleur and La Hougue in 1692 saw a French fleet engage an Anglo-Dutch fleet, with both sides suffering heavily.Jenkins, History of the French Navy, pp. 82–86, However, once wind and tide changed, the French suffered heavily as they tried to get back to port for repairs. Some of the damaged French ships were forced to beach themselves at Cherbourg, where they were annihilated by English long boats and with fire ships. The crews were saved, but the lost fifteen ships of the line were not replaced and France did not seriously challenge the combined English and Dutch fleet for decades. France turned to commerce-raiding rather than large fleet actions with great success under such captains as Jean Bart, Claude de Forbin and René Duguay-Trouin.
Louis XV
Until what the British called the Annus Mirabilis of 1759, the French and British navies had a roughly even record of success in their many conflicts. This changed decisively in that year with a series of disasters for the French, who had begun the year planning to invade Britain. The British responded by blockading the French fleets at both Toulon and Brest; when the French emerged they were decisively defeated in the battles of Lagos, Portugal and Quiberon Bay. The French Navy was also unable to prevent the loss of the important colonies of New France (Quebec) and Guadeloupe. The year marked the beginning of the period of clear British dominance on the seas.
Following the disasters of the Seven Years' War, France was financially incapable of building up a fleet to challenge Britain's Royal Navy. However, efforts were made, and by the time of Louis XV's death in 1774, the Marine Royale was somewhat larger than it had been in 1763, and, crucially, had replaced numerous old vessels with more effective modern designs. Also worthy of note: in 1766, Bougainville led the first French circumnavigation of the world.
Louis XVI
King Louis XVI was keen on technical subjects and geography, and encouraged explorations including the commissioning of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse to undertake far reaching voyages of discovery. (L’expédition de Lapérouse, 1785–1788, réplique française au voyage de Cook). Upon King Louis XVI's orders, Lapérouse departed Brest, France, in command of Astrolabe and Boussole on 1 August 1785 on a scientific voyage of the Pacific inspired by the voyages of James Cook. He never returned and his ships were later found wrecked at the island of Vanikoro, which is part of the isolated Santa Cruz group of islands in the South Pacific. Vessels designed by French engineer Jacques-Noël Sané started being constructed during the American Revolutionary War. He created what were to be, in effect, the ultimate designs of wind-powered fighting ship, with standard frigates carrying 18-pounder guns, and standard ships of the line of 64, 74, 80 and 118 guns; his 74-gun ship of the line became the backbone of the French and British navies. The largest units, the 118-guns, were said to be "as manoeuvrable as a frigate" (the is a typical example).
During the American War of Independence the French Navy played a decisive role in supporting the American side. The French Navy was the only standing navy to fight the British, alongside the modest Continental and American state navies and American privateers.Source In a hard-fought effort, the French under de Grasse managed to repulse a British fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781, ensuring that the Franco-American ground forces would win the ongoing Battle of Yorktown. The career of de Grasse ended when he was captured during the decisive French defeat at the 1782 Battle of the Saintes.
In India, Pierre André de Suffren fought in a series of campaigns against the British (1770–1780), contending for supremacy against Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes. In 1789, the French Navy had 71 ships of the line, 64 frigates, 45 corvettes and 32 smaller units; a further 12 ships of the line and 10 frigates were under construction and expected to be launched within the year. The crews counted 75,000 sailors, 5,000 gunners, 2,000 officers and 14,000 Fusiliers Marins. Ships were based mostly in Brest, Toulon and Rochefort, and in Lorient, Le Havre, Dunkerque, Bordeaux, Bayonne and Marseille.
French Revolution and the First Empire