French ship Charlemagne (1807)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Charlemagne.

Charlemagne was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, part of the shorter Borée subtype.

Launch of Charlemagne before Napoléon.
History
France
Name	Charlemagne
Namesake	Charlemagne
Ordered	4 January 1803[1]
Builder	Antwerp[1]
Laid down	May 1804[1]
Launched	8 April 1807[1]
Stricken	30 August 1814[1]
Fate	Ceded to the Netherlands, broken up 1823
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement	2,781 tonneaux
Tons burthen	1,381 port tonneaux[1]
Length	54 m (177 ft 2 in)[1]
Beam	14.3 m (46 ft 11 in)[1]
Draught	6.7 m (22 ft 0 in)[1]
Propulsion	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails[1]
Complement	678 men[1]
Armament	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 24-pounder long guns Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pounder carronades

Career

Charlemagne was the first ship of the line to be built in Antwerp according to the wishes of Napoléon, who wanted to expand the French Navy by exploiting shipyards in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy. In 1807, she was stationed in Vlissingen under Commander Dupotet, in the squadron of Vice-Admiral Missiessy. She aided in the defence of Antwerp against the amphibious raid led by Chatham, and again during the Siege of Antwerp of 1814.

After the Bourbon Restoration, on 30 August 1814, Charlemagne was transferred to the Dutch Navy, as per the Treaty of Paris. The Dutch brought her into service as Nassau.