Scipion-class ship of the line

The Scipion class was a class of three 74-gun ships of the line built to a design by François-Guillaume Clairin-Deslauriers, the ingénieur-constructeur en chef at Rochefort Dockyard. These were the shortest 74-gun ships built by France since the 1750s, and they were found to lack stability as a consequence. The third ship - originally the Pluton - was 'girdled' (sheathed) with 32 cm of pine at Rochefort in 1799 to overcome her instability, and the design of two further ships ordered at the same dockyard in 1779 were lengthened.


 * FRENCH SHIP Scipion
 * Builder: Rochefort Dockyard
 * Ordered: early 1778
 * Begun: 10 April 1778
 * Launched: 19 September 1778
 * Completed: February 1779
 * Fate: Wrecked in Samana Bay, off San Domingo on 19 October 1782.


 * FRENCH SHIP Hercule
 * Builder: Rochefort Dockyard
 * Ordered: early 1778
 * Begun: 1 April 1778
 * Launched: 5 October 1778
 * Completed: February 1779
 * Fate: Razéed to 50-gun frigate in February to June 1794, and renamed Hydre in May 1795; discarded 1797.


 * FRENCH SHIP Pluton
 * Builder: Rochefort Dockyard
 * Ordered: early 1778
 * Begun: 10 April 1778
 * Launched: 5 November 1778
 * Completed: February 1779
 * Fate: Renamed Dugommier on 17 December 1797. Taken to pieces at Brest in 1805.