French ship Northumberland (1780)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Northumberland and HMS Northumberland.

Northumberland was a 74-gun Annibal-class ship of the line of the French Navy.

A 74-gun French ship of the line similar to Northumberland
History
France
Name	Northumberland
Namesake	HMS Northumberland, a previous ship captured from the Royal Navy and commissioned in the French Navy
Laid down	24 February 1779[1]
Launched	3 May 1780[1]
Commissioned	July 1780[1]
Honours & awards	Participated in: Battle of the Chesapeake Battle of the Saintes Glorious First of June
Captured	Glorious First of June, by Royal Navy
Great Britain
Name	Northumberland
Acquired	June, 1794
Fate	Broken up, December 1795
General characteristics
Class & type	Annibal-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1500 tonnes
Length	54.7 m (179 ft 6 in)
Beam	14.3 m (46 ft 11 in)
Draught	7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)
Propulsion	Sails
Armament	74 guns of various weights of shot

Career

She took part in the Battle of the Chesapeake on 5 September 1781 under Bon Chrétien de Bricqueville. Seven months later, she took part in Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782 under Captain Cresp de Saint-Césaire, who was killed in the action.^[2] The ship was saved by the active help of Swedish officer Henrik Johan Nauckhoff, who was later to become a Swedish admiral and at the time was on leave from Swedish service to gain experience fighting with the French.^[3] In 1782, she captured the 14-gun sloop HMS Allegiance.

Northumberland was captured during the Glorious First of June in 1794, where she was captained by François-Pierre Étienne. She was recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Northumberland, and was broken up the next year in December 1795.^[1]