HMS Invincible (1747)
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| History | |
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.svg){kind=small} France
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| Name: | Invincible |
| Builder: | Rochefort |
| Laid down: | May 1741 |
| Launched: | 21 October 1744 |
| Captured: | 3 May 1747, by Royal Navy |
| Notes: |
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 Great Britain
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| Name: | HMS Invincible |
| Acquired: | 3 May 1747 |
| Fate: | Wrecked, 1758 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 1793 tons |
| Length: | 171 ft 3 in (52.20 m) (gun deck length) |
| Beam: | 49 ft 3 in (15.01 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 21 ft 3 in (6.48 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Armament: | 74 guns of various weights of shot |
Coordinates: 50°44′34″N 01°02′23″W / 50.74278°N 1.03972°W
The Invincible was a 74-gun French ship of the line, later a third-rate of the Royal Navy.
During the early part of the 18th century British ship designers had made few significant advances in design, whereas French shipbuilding benefited from a remarkably creative period. At the time of the capture of Invincible, there was not one 74-gun ship in the Royal Navy. By 1805 at the battle of Trafalgar, three quarters of British ships of the line were of this singular design and the 74-gun ship had become the backbone of all major navies of the world.
Invincible was one of the first trio of a new and longer type of 74-gun ships. Until 1738, French 74s had been little more than 154 (French) feet in gundeck length, carrying just thirteen pairs of 36-pdr guns on the lower deck, fourteen pairs of 18-pdr guns on the upper deck and eight pairs of 8-pdr guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle, with the balance of the 74 guns made up of four small 4-pdr guns on the poop.
This was changed by François Coulomb's design for the Terrible, launched in 1739 at Toulon. The gundeck length was stretched to 164 (French) feet, and the four small guns on the poop were eliminated, replaced by new gunports for an additional pair of 36-pdr guns on the lower deck and an extra pair of 18-pdr guns on the upper deck. This new gun establishment became the standard for all subsequent French 74s. The next two ships, Invincible designed by Pierre Morineau and Le Magnanime designed by Blaise Geslain, were begun in early 1741 at Toulon and were each even longer than Le Terrible.
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