Levant Fleet
title: "Levant Fleet" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["navy-of-the-ancien-régime", "naval-fleets"] topic_path: "history/military" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levant_Fleet" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox military unit"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| unit_name | Levant Fleet |
| image | Royal Louis-Maitre Rodolphe 1667 img 3092.jpg |
| image_size | 300 |
| caption | , flagship of the Levant Fleet under Louis XIV |
| dates | 1689–1792 |
| country | Kingdom of France |
| branch | Kingdom of France Royal French Navy |
| type | Naval fleet |
| role | Naval operations in the Mediterranean |
| garrison | Arsenal of Toulon |
| Arsenal of Galères | |
| battles | Franco-Dutch War |
| Nine Years' War | |
| War of the Spanish Succession | |
| War of the Austrian Succession | |
| Seven Years' War | |
| American War of Independence | |
| anniversaries | |
| identification_symbol_2_label | Abbreviation |
| :: |
| unit_name = Levant Fleet | image = Royal Louis-Maitre Rodolphe 1667 img 3092.jpg | image_size = 300 | caption = , flagship of the Levant Fleet under Louis XIV | dates = 1689–1792 | country = Kingdom of France | branch = Kingdom of France Royal French Navy | type = Naval fleet | role = Naval operations in the Mediterranean | size = | current_commander = | garrison = Arsenal of Toulon Arsenal of Galères | ceremonial_chief = | ceremonial_chief_label = | colonel_of_the_regiment = | nickname = | motto = | march = | mascot = | battles = Franco-Dutch War Nine Years' War War of the Spanish Succession War of the Austrian Succession Seven Years' War American War of Independence | notable_commanders = | anniversaries = | identification_symbol = | identification_symbol_label = | identification_symbol_2 = | identification_symbol_2_label = Abbreviation
The Levant Fleet () was the designation under the Ancien Regime for the naval vessels of the Royal French Navy in the Mediterranean. The fleet carried out operations such as asserting naval supremacy and protecting convoys. Its counterpart was the Ponant Fleet, which saw service in the English Channel and in the Atlantic Ocean.
Arsenals
At first based in Fréjus, from the beginning of the 17th century the fleet was based at two specialized arsenals:
Flagships
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Poupe-de-la-galere-la-reale.jpg" caption="The stern of [[Louis XIV]]'s ''Réale''."] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Série_des_ports_de_France_mg_5236.jpg" caption="General view of the port of Toulon in the middle of the 18th century."] ::
The fleet's flagship was traditionally the Réale, flying the flag of (a grand-officer of the crown of France), as seen at the Musée national de la Marine.
The flagship was always the most powerful ship present in Toulon. Under Louis XIV this was the either 110-gun constructed in 1667 and destroyed in 1690 or her successor, also named , constructed in 1692. The gun decks of these vessels were painted red, upper decks in blue, picked out with gilding. Under Louis XVI the flagships were the 110-gun constructed in 1780 and then the 118-gun constructed in 1788.
Vice admirals
The command of the Levant and the Ponant fleets were entrusted on 12 November 1669 to two vice-admirals. The first vice-admiral of the Levant was Anne Hilarion de Costentin, Comte de Tourville, designated as such in 1669. Louis XIV had intended to appoint Abraham Duquesne to share the post, but he died in 1688, and the Comte de Tourville continued in the post until 1701.
::data[format=table] | Name||Portrait||Tenure||Note | |---| | Anne Hilarion de Costentin, Comte de Tourville (1624–1701) | | François Louis de Rousselet, Marquis de Châteaurenault (1637–1716) | | Alain Emmanuel de Coëtlogon (1646–1730) | | Marquis d'Augé (1655–1744) | | (1664–1745) | | (1663–1750) | | (1666–1753) | | (1672–1762) | | Emmanuel-Auguste de Cahideuc, Comte Dubois de la Motte Count Dubois de la Motte (1683–1764) | | Claude Louis d'Espinchal, Marquis de Massiac (1686–1770) | | Anne Antoine, Comte d'Aché de Maubeuf (1701–1780) | | Count d'Aubigny (1699–1781) | | Aymar Joseph de Roquefeuil et du Bousquet Count of Roquefeuil and du Bousquet (1714–1782) | | (1716–1784) | | Louis-Armand-Constantin de Rohan, Prince de Montbazon (1732–1794) | ::
Although Tourville commanded the fleet during the battles of the reign of Louis XIV, his successors were too old to have likely served at sea. In practice, the squadrons at sea were under officers with the rank of Lieutenant général des Armées navales.
Administration
The Fleet of the Levant was renamed the "Mediterranean Squadron" (escadre de la Méditerranée, :fr:Escadre de la Méditerranée) after the French Revolution. The fleet was successively almost annihilated during the Siege of Toulon in 1793 and during the battles of the Nile in 1798 and Trafalgar in 1805.
The term "Fleet of the Levant" was temporary readopted after the French Restoration and the July Monarchy.
References
Bibliography
- Rémi Monaque, Une histoire de la marine de guerre française, Paris, éditions Perrin, 2016, total pages 526
- Michel Vergé-Franceschi, La marine française au XVIII, guerres, administration, exploration, Regards sur l'histoire, Paris, SEDES editions, 1996, total pages 451 .
- Michel Vergé-Franceschi, Toulon: port royal, 1481–1789, Tallandier, 2002 – 329 pages
References
- Par maître Rodolphe, in ''Histoire de la Marine française illustrée'', Larousse, 1934.
- Royal-Louis (1668), the first of the 15 ''Royal-Louis'' was destroyed in 1690.
- ''Royal-Louis'' 1692, the second of the 15 ''Royal-Louis'' was disarmed in 1716 and destroyed in 1727.
- ''Majestueux'' was renamed ''Républicain'' (''Republican'') in 1797; destroyed in 1808.
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