![]() Bienfaisant (on the right) at point of capture during the siege of Louisbourg in 1758.
| |
History | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Name | Bienfaisant |
Launched | 13 October 1754 |
Captured | 25 July 1758, by Royal Navy |
![]() | |
Name | HMS Bienfaisant |
Acquired | 25 July 1758 |
Fate | Broken up, 1814 |
Notes |
|
General characteristics [1] | |
Class and type | 64-gun third rate ship of the line |
Tons burthen | 13607⁄94 (bm) |
Length | 153 ft 9 in (46.9 m) (gundeck) |
Beam | 44 ft 6 in (13.6 m) |
Depth of hold | 19 ft 4 in (5.9 m) |
Propulsion | Sails |
Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
Armament | 64 guns of various weights of shot |
Bienfaisant was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1754.
A cutting out expedition ordered by Admiral Edward Boscawen of the British Royal Navy captured her on the night of 25 July 1758 during the 1758 Siege of Louisbourg. Bienfaisant and the 74-gun Prudent were the last remaining ships of the line of the French squadron in Louisbourg harbour. Prudent had run aground and so her captors set her alight, but men commanded by Commander George Balfour of HMS Aetna boarded and brought out Bienfaisant. The action provided a decisive moment of the siege; the fortress surrendered the next day.