Seventy-four (ship)

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Achille mp3h9307.jpg
Scale model of Achille, a typical French seventy-four of the Téméraire class at the beginning of the 19th century.
Class overview
Name: 74-gun
Builders: Numerous
In commission: 1740s–1810s
General characteristics
Type: ship of the line
Tons burthen: 2,000–3,000 bm
Length: 161–182 ft (49–55 m)
Beam: 46 ft (14 m)
Draught: 23 ft (7 m)
Sail plan: ship rig
Complement: 500–700 men
  • 28 × 24-36-pounders
  • 28–30 x 18-24-pounders
  • 14–18 x 6-12-pounders

The "seventy-four" was a type of two-decked sailing ship of the line which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s and spread to the British Royal Navy where it was classed as third rate. From here, it spread to the Spanish, Dutch, Danish and Russian navies. The design was considered a good balance between firepower and sailing qualities, but more importantly, it was an appealing ideal for naval administrators and bureaucrats. Seventy-fours became a mainstay of the world's fleets into the early 19th century when they began to be supplanted by new designs and by the introduction of steam powered ironclads.

As a standard type, the seventy-four was only an ideal construction. There was great variation between seventy-fours of different navies. In the period 1750–1790, different ships could measure from just under 2,000 to 3,000 tons burthen. The armament could also vary considerably, with everything from 24-pounder to long 36-pounder guns, and some seventy-fours of the Danish navy actually had only 70 guns.[1]

First 74-gun designs[edit]


Broadside of a French 74-gun ship from 1755

The 74-gun ship carried 28 (24-pounders- to 36-pounders) on the lower gun deck, 28–30 (18- to 24-pounders) on the upper gun deck, and 14–18 (6- to 12-pounders) on the upper works.[2] Crew size was around 500 to 750 men depending on design, circumstances and nationality, with British ships tending to have smaller crews than other navies. The French had large and small seventy-fours, called "grand modèle" and "petite modèle", the waterline length of a "grand modèle" seventy-four could be up to 182 feet.[3] This was copied by the Royal Navy in about two dozen such ships of its own, such as HMS Colossus where they were known as Large, while the other seventy-fours built to be between 166–171 feet (51–52 m) were known as Common.[4]

Inner arrangement of a Russian 74-gun ship. Elements of Sané's design are present, but with a British-style layout.



  • 1st & 2nd rates (130–90 guns) 156
  • 3rd rate 74s (70–90 guns) 408
  • 4th rate (60–68 guns) 199

74s in the Royal Navy[edit]

The Royal Navy captured a number of the early French 74-gun ships during the War of the Austrian Succession (for example, Invincible, captured at the first battle of Cape Finisterre in 1747) and the Seven Years' War and was greatly impressed by them compared to its own smallish 70-gun ships. As a result, it started building them in great numbers from about 1760, as did most other navies. Navies that were restricted by shallow waters, such as the Dutch and Scandinavian navies, at least early on tended to avoid the 74-gun ship to a certain degree due to its size and draught, preferring smaller two-deckers instead. Even so, the seventy-four was a standard feature in all European navies around 1800. Only a handful of 74-gun ships were commissioned into the United States Navy; the US Navy's early sea power concentrated on its frigates.







See also[edit]


  1. ^ Glete (1993), pp. 83–86
  2. ^ Glete (1993), p. 84
  3. ^ Jean Boudriot, Hubert Berti, Les vaisseaux de 74 à 120 canons : étude historique, 1650–1850, ANCRE, Paris, 1995, p. 12
  5. ^ "Парусный флот - Типы Кораблей". Dec 26, 2008. Retrieved Aug 24, 2019.



Further reading[edit]


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