French ship Saint Philippe (1663)

History
France
Name	Saint Philippe
Namesake	Saint Philip
Owner	French Royal Navy
Builder	Rodolphe Gédéon, in Toulon Dockyard
Laid down	early 1661
Launched	3 February 1663
Completed	15 April 1664
Out of service	November 1699
Renamed	Victorieux on 24 June 1671
Fate	Burnt at La Hogue on 2 June 1692
General characteristics
Class and type	ship of the line
Tonnage	1,450 tons
Length	146 French feet
Beam	36½ French feet
Depth of hold	18½ French feet
Decks	3 gun decks
Complement	500 (later 600), +9 officers
Armament	74 guns: 8 × 36-pounder long guns + 18 × 24-pounder long guns on lower deck 26 × 18-pounder long guns on middle deck 18 × 8-pounder long guns on upper deck 4 × 4-pounder long guns on poop
Armour	Timber

The Saint Philippe was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Royal Navy. She was built at Brest Dockyard, designed and constructed by Laurent Hubac. She was nominally a three-decker, but in practice the upper deck was divided into armed sections aft and forward of the unarmed waist, making the upper deck equivalent to a quarterdeck and forecastle.

She took part in the Battle of Cherchell on 24 August 1665 (as flagship of François de Bourbon-Vendôme, Duc de Beaufort) and in the Battle of Solebay on 7 June 1672 (as flagship of Vice-admiral Jean d'Estrées). She was refitted at Brest from 2 August to 11 September 1683, emerging with 70 guns, and recommissioned in June 1689 as the flagship of chef d'escadre Jean Gabaret. She took part in the Battle of Beachy Head on 10 July 1690 (as flagship of Alain Emmanuel de Coëtlogon) and in the Battle of Barfleur on 29 May 1692. Following the latter battle, she was beached at La Hogue where she was attacked and burnt by the English on 2 June 1692

References

• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. p. 223. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
• Nomenclature des Vaisseaux du Roi-Soleil de 1661 a 1715. Alain Demerliac (Editions Omega, Nice – various dates).
• The Sun King's Vessels (2015) – Jean-Claude Lemineur; English translation by François Fougerat. Editions ANCRE. ISBN 978-2903179885
• Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen (2017) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626-1786: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4738-9351-1.

• Vaisseaux de Ligne Français de 1682 à 1780 1