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Orient (Dauphin Royal / Sans-Culotte)

History

In 1780, on the advice of Jean-Charles de Borda, a knight, naval officer and academician of the Academy of Sciences, the French Navy decided to limit ship production to three types - 74-gun and 80-gun biplane designs and 120-Gun three tier deck, barque line. The move aims to standardize shipbuilding so that the Navy can train officers and men on board to have consistent sailing skills and seamanship, covering the basics of turning radius, speed, handling, and more. It was thought that if ships were built in rank, mirroring each other, naval battle planning could be almost mechanical in nature.

Ships, in turn, should be built to be the same in size, hull shape, tonnage, length and breadth - so that every vessel of its kind behaves the same at sea.

During her career, a particular ship of the movement was renamed three times for political reasons - she started as Dauphin and served under that name until September 1792 before becoming sans-culottes Han didn't until May 1795, when she received her final from L'Orient. L'Orient, the third of 15 ships built to marine-class standards, is a three-deck ship with 120 guns built at the French Arsenal in Toulon. One of the largest wooden ships ever built, this class was a battleship for the French Navy.

Launched in 1791, she was designed by Jacques-Noel Sane, the famous shipyard of the time. East was 196 feet long when built, 6 inches (65.18 m) long, 50 feet (16.24 m) long beam, and 25 feet (8.12 m) draught. She drained 5,085 tons.

As night fell, Nelson ordered an attack that broke the rules of conventional naval warfarenot unusual for Nelson. His actions began the Battle of the Nile. Captain Foley of HMS Goliath saw a gap in the French front and sailed between the two ships.

This was followed by a number of other British ships, who began to attack the French from ashore. Nelson saw this tactic and led the rest of the squadron to fight the French on the bay side of their line.

Now the French fleet was attacked by British ships alternately on her port and starboard sides.

Soon, the British 74-gun frigate line approached the 120-gun east, and a total of 5 British ships opened fire to the east. Incessant artillery fire from the east sparked several crew-controlled fires. Before the battle, however, the bridge had been painted and cleaned. When the British were seen, the paint and fuel tanks were not stored on the bridge, but left on the deck.

Soon, the container overflowed and ignited with burning embers. Liquid paint and burning oil spread in the chain whale on the port side of the ship and onto the mast. Poor maintenance means the fire pump is malfunctioning and there aren't enough buckets and axes.

The ship soon caught fire all its length and it was decided that the gunpowder magazines should now be submerged, as fire posed a greater danger to the ship than the British ships that fired at it. It was clear that the fire was spreading faster than the water, hence the order to abandon the ship.

Hundreds of people jumped off the boat, some tried to lower the boat to escape, and the wounded left on the boat were burned alive. The warship was over at 10:30 p.m. when the mighty French naval emblem exploded and flaming wreckage sprinkled surrounding ships.

The British often give the figure of 70 survivors, the number of people rescued by their ships. The French reported that 760 of the 1,130 officers, men and boys on board were rescued. The blast is said to have created such a spectacular sight that many of those involved in the fighting stopped to watch it for about half an hour. Injured Nelson, still went to his bridge to witness the incident. After the battle, the main mast of the Vostok was found and collected by the British and shipped to London for Nelson's coffin.

The Battle of the Nile is considered Nelson's greatest victory. The battle put the British navy ahead of the French navy, which they would maintain until the end of the campaign, and encouraged the other European powers to hold their ground against France.

After Nelson died after the Battle of Trafalgar, his body was placed in a coffin built by the main mast of the East.

In 1998, French archaeologist Franck Goddio discovered scattered eastern ruins more than 300 meters above the seabed, proving the violent nature of the explosion. Hundreds of objects, including gold and silver coins and sailor skeletons, were found in water as deep as 21 feet (9 meters) about 8 miles from shore.

The seabed in the area is still covered in gunpowder.