Marie Antoinette May 1774, the Dauphin ascended the throne as King Louis XVI of France and Navarre with Marie Antoinette as his Queen. At the outset, the new queen had limited political influence with her husband, who, with the support of his two most important ministers, Chief Minister Maurepas and Foreign Minister Vergennes, blocked several of her candidates from assuming important positions, including Choiseul. The queen did play a decisive role in the disgrace and exile of the most powerful of Louis XV's ministers, the Duke of Aiguillon. On 24 May 1774, two weeks after the death of Louis XV, the king
HMS Marie Antoinette (1793) the French Navy as the 20-gun corvette, "Convention Nationale". In September 1793, at the request of French Royalists, Commodore Ford's squadron attacked Saint-Domingue and Jérémie in the Caribbean. On 23 September 1793, the British captured four merchant vessels at L'Islet, and on 29 September, seven at Flamande Bay. At Môle-Saint-Nicolas, on 23 September, , HMS "Goelan", and had captured the schooner "Convention Nationale", which was under the command of Mons. Anquetin. She was registered on 12 May 1794. Ford gave command of the renamed "Marie Antoinette" to Lieutenant John Perkins "an Officer of Zeal, Vigilance and Activity." In 1794 "Marie