Heller 80892 Royal Louis

The Royal Louis was a French 1st rank liner from the second half of the 18th century. The construction of the vessel was started in 1757, and its launch took place in 1759, but the completion of the works was prolonged until 1762! The ship was built in a shipyard in the city of Brest in France. Its displacement (without weapons) was probably about 3,000 tons. However, the armament consisted of as many as 116 on-board guns, and its crew consisted of about 1,340 people. The Royal Louis was designed in 1757 by Jacques Luc-Coulomb, and Laurent Coulomb was responsible for its construction. She was the only ship of the Sans-Pareil class to enter service. The very high costs of building the Royal Louis were the reasons why the construction of new units was abandoned. At the time of entering service, however, it was the most powerful ship in the French Navy, with considerable combat capabilities, quite good performance and maneuverability for this class of sailing ships. The unit did not have a very rich combat career, and in 1771 it was placed in a dry dock, and a year later dismantled.