Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves

Jean-Baptiste Barthélémy Thomas, comte d'Orves^[1] (1727 — Orient, off Madras,^{[Note 1]} 9 February 1782^[2] ) was a French Navy officer, who rose to have flag officer rank.^{[Note 2]}

Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves
Born	1727
Died	9 February 1782
Allegiance	Kingdom of France
Branch	French Navy
Rank	Chef d'escadre
Battles / wars	Anglo-French War Battle of Ushant
Relations	Estienne Family

Biography

Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves was born to the Estienne Family, a noble house of Provence.

During the Anglo-French War, on 27 July 1778, Estienne d'Orves took part in the Battle of Ushant as captain of the 74-gun Actif.^[4][5]

In late 1778, Estienne d'Orves was in command of the 80-gun Orient. On 28 December he departed Brest to reinforce the French colony of Isle de France.^{[Note 3][6]} When François-Jean-Baptiste l'Ollivier de Tronjoli, commander of the French forces in the Indian Ocean, was recalled to France, he transferred command to Estienne d'Orves.^[7]

Estienne d'Orves led his squadron off the Coromandel Coast, with little effect.^[8][9] In April 1781, his health deteriorating, Estienne d'Orves gave command of the division to Tromelin, and that of Orient to First Officer Bolle.^[10] Suffren arrived at Isle de France with reinforcements on 25 October 1781, and Estienne d'Orves decided to mount a raid against British interests in India.^[9]

On 7 December 1781, Estienne d'Orves departed Isle de France with 11 ships, 3 frigates and 3 corvettes, intending to attack Trincomalee. However, he changed his mind and decided to attack Madras instead.^[11] However, in the following days, his failing health deteriorated to the point where he was not fit for duty, and he delegated command to Suffren.^[12] He died on 9 February 1782, a few days before the Battle of Sadras.^[2]

Assessment

Charles Cunat compares d'Orves to Tronjoli in that they both failed to seize the initiative against the British,^[8] and contrasts them to Suffren's skill.^[2] Admiral Rémi Monaque called d'Orves a "rather mediocre admiral".^[13]