French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale (English: National Navy), is the maritime combat force and one of the four branches of the French Armed Forces, alongside the French Army, the French Air and Space Force, and the National Gendarmerie.

History

Atlantic slave trade

During the 1730s, the French Navy in the Caribbean played a significant part in policing the slave trade out of Port-au-Prince. As a result, a large number of French vessels were sunk by the ship Experto Crede, captained by the Assassin and ally of the Maroon rebellion, Adéwalé, who had also previously sunk a French treasure fleet commanded by a Templar admiral.

Seven Years' War

During the Seven Years' War, the French Navy was allied with the Colonial Assassins, who helped them to secure control over the North Atlantic while fighting the British Royal Navy. One of the French Navy's most powerful ships controlled the North Atlantic, the Couronne, but the Royal Navy privateer and Templar, Shay Cormac, managed to sink this ship at the Battle of Labrador and cripple their naval power with his ship, Morrigan. This was instrumental to France's defeat in the war that culminated in the British annexation of New France.

French ships under siege during the Battle of Louisbourg

In June 1758, the French Navy defended the Fortress of Louisbourg, then under the command of Augustin de Boschenry, Chevalier de Drucour, when it was beset by the Royal Navy. Despite the assistance of Adéwalé at the helm of the Experto Crede, the French failed to relieve the siege, decimated as they were by the HMS Pembroke piloted by Shay Cormac. Late that same year, the French sent their navy to directly strike at mainland Britain, but their fleet was crushed on 20 November at the Battle of Quiberon Bay by Shay yet again, losing another powerful ship, the Formidable, in the process.

American Revolutionary War

In 1776, before France openly joined the American Revolutionary War, the French Navy secretly transported supplies for the Continental Army with ships repainted and renamed to appear Spanish. One of these ships, La Belladonna, was escorted through the Caribbean Sea by the USS Randolph before being abandoned. The Aquila resumed her escort and defended her when Nicholas Biddle alerted a British Man O' War to her location.

French ships at the Battle of the Chesapeake

Two years later, General John Sullivan caused a scandal when he wrote a letter criticizing the French's withdrawal at the Battle of Rhode Island. The Colonial Assassins' leader, Connor, sent his recruits to convince Admiral d'Estaing to ignore Sullivan's comments.

In 1781, the Aquila aided the French against the Royal Navy during the Battle of the Chesapeake. In return, Connor asked Admiral de Grasse to send a fleet, disguised as British ships, to bombard New York's militarized district, allowing him to infiltrate Fort George and assassinate Charles Lee.

Notable ships

Below is a list of notable French Navy ships, not including privateer and merchant ships.

• Couronne
• Formidable
• L'Amazone
• La Belladonna
• Marsellois
• Saint Espirit

Lesser known ships

These are other French ships that were encountered by Shay Cormac and Adéwalé during their career as Templars and Assassins, respectively.

• Duc d'Orleans
• Saint Phillipe
• Monarque
• Tonnant
• Soleil Royal
• Dauphin-Royal
• Intrepide
• Atalante
• Aurore
• Hermione
• Consolante
• Tourtelle
• Pallas
• Hebe
• Sultane

Trivia

• The French Navy was likely intended to play a larger role in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, as evidenced by French soldiers being present in Havana and Kingston in the E3 gameplay trailer and promotional screenshots. However, in the final version of the game, the French Navy is nowhere to be found, with the two major factions in the game instead being the Royal and Spanish Navies.
• French Navy ships in Freedom Cry share the same models as the Spanish Navy ships in Black Flag, with the only difference being that the Spanish Prancing Lion is replaced by the French fleur-de-lis and the flags' color is changed to white.
  • In Assassin's Creed: Rogue, the French ships model is similar to the ones from Freedom Cry, but now with a blue, white and red color scheme as well as bluish-white sails and a black fleur-de-lis on their sails and blue banners.
• In the initial versions of Rogue, French Navy ships flew the Royal French Navy flag, but in the final version, it was replaced by the flag of New Orleans. Database files of ship classes still show them flying the original flag.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed III (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Freedom Cry
• Assassin's Creed: Pirates
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue