L’Orient — French 120-gun Flagship

Generated illustration. Not a historical photograph. A first-rate exploding in a night action. Not a named portrait of the ship.

Overview

L’Orient was the French 120-gun flagship at the Battle of the Nile 1798 — Overview. The battle overview already places Brueys d’Aigalliers François-Paul — French Admiral aboard her in Aboukir Bay — Egypt, and records that she caught fire around 9pm on 1 August 1798 and exploded around 10pm.¹

Specifications

Feature	Detail
Guns	120
Type	French flagship, ship of the line
Battle	Nile, 1 August 1798

A British First Rate Ship of the Line — Class Overview is a 100-gun three-decker — HMS Victory — Overview carried 104 at Trafalgar. This note does not collapse the 120-gun French flag into that British rate table. The 120-gun figure is the Nile note’s figure.²

Service

This note covers 1 August 1798 only. Construction yard, earlier commissions, and any treasure story are not on a licensed named-ship page — they stay on RESEARCH_QUEUE.

Nelson was struck on the forehead by langridge from Spartiate around 8:30pm and returned to the quarterdeck before L’Orient caught fire. After the explosion, firing ceased for ten minutes. She was lost with most of her crew, and Brueys with her. Eleven of thirteen French ships of the line were taken or destroyed that night.³

Sources

• @knight2005pursuit — pp. 281–320
• @white2005nelson
• @adkin2005trafalgar
• Battle of the Nile 1798 — Overview

Related

Navigation

• MOC_Ships_Maritime
• Individual_Ships_Index

Same Battle

• Battle of the Nile 1798 — Overview
• Aboukir Bay — Egypt
• Brueys d’Aigalliers François-Paul — French Admiral — died aboard
• Villeneuve Pierre-Charles — French Admiral — escaped in Guillaume Tell — French 80-gun Ship
• Franklin — French 80-gun Ship
• Tonnant — French 80-gun Ship
• Spartiate — French Ship of the Line

Ships

• HMS Victory — Overview — later British first-rate contrast
• First Rate Ship of the Line — Class Overview
• Bucentaure — Overview — later French flag, Trafalgar
• Santísima Trinidad — Spanish First Rate — another outsize flagship

Cross-Domain

• Line of Battle — Naval Tactic
• Hallowell Coffin — L’Orient Mainmast — coffin gift only
• Age of Sail — Era Overview

Footnotes

1. Flag, 120 guns, fire ~9pm, explosion ~10pm, Brueys aboard: Battle of the Nile 1798 — Overview. ↩

2. Do not invent a French rate table. 120 guns is the battle note’s number. ↩

3. Langridge, cease-fire, crew loss, 11 of 13: same battle note. Do not add a launch year or a treasure until a page is licensed. ↩