Prudent
Ship Of The Line · France · Lost 1758 · Nova Scotia & Sable Island
The French ship of the line Prudent was set ablaze in Louisbourg harbour during a daring British boat action that helped decide the 1758 siege.
The Vessel and Her Loss
Prudent was a 74-gun French ship of the line built at Rochefort in 1753. Trapped with the last remaining French warships in Louisbourg harbour during the 1758 British siege, she ran aground and, on the night of 25-26 July, was boarded by a British cutting-out expedition under Admiral Edward Boscawen's orders and set on fire. Her sister ship Bienfaisant was captured intact in the same raid. The loss of these last French warships helped force Louisbourg's surrender the next day.
Vessel
- 1753
- Not established
- Rochefort, France
- Wood
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Sail
- French Royal Navy
Loss
- July 26, 1758
- Enemy action
- Louisbourg harbour, Île-Royale (Cape Breton Island)
- Louisbourg Harbour
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Burned to the waterline; hull later salvaged and scrapped in 1761
- Not established
- Not established
- Within the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site vicinity
Position
- 45.92° N 59.97° W
- Approximate position
- Louisbourg, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
Position approximates Louisbourg harbour where the ship of the line was trapped and burned.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)
Massachusetts Historical Society, The Beehive
Narrative of the cutting-out raid and the burning of Prudent.
Wikipedia, citing Demerliac's Marine de Louis XV
Build details, armament, and fate.
