French ship Intrépide (1747)

The Intrépide was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. It was of the Monarque class.

Built by Jacques-Luc Coulomb, her keel was laid down at Brest on 14 November 1745 towards the end of the War of the Austrian Succession and she was launched on 24 March 1747. The fifth ship of this type to be built by the French Navy, she was designed to the norms set for ships of the line by French shipbuilders in the 1740s to try to match the cost, armament and manouvrability of their British counterparts, since the Royal Navy had had a greater number of ships than the French since the end of the wars of Louis XIV. Without being standardized, dozens of French 74s were based on these norms right up until the start of the 19th century, slowly evolving to match new shipbuilding technologies and the wishes of naval tacticians and strategists.

The Intrépide fought at the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre on 25 October 1747, forming part of Henri-François des Herbiers's division, which also included the admiral's flagship the 80-gun Tonnant, the 74-gun Monarque and Terrible, four 56-to-68 gun ships and a 26-gun frigate. They were charged with escorting a convoy of over 250 merchantmen to the Antilles and faced Edward Hawke and his 14-ship squadron.

The engagement lasted nearly seven hours and saw six French ships captured. Heading the French line and captained by the experienced commander de Vaudreuil, the Intrépide was little damaged, since she was the last ship attacked by the British squadron. She escaped her pursuers and saved the Tonnant, allowing her to disengage. The following dawn the Intrépide managed to take the Tonnant in tow. Their success was not only down to their commanders but also the fact that they were new powerful ships, easier to handle and with more modern armament than older ships in the British and French fleets. They arrived in Brest on 9 November 1747 whilst the convoy safely reached the Antilles.

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