Laid down as "Peuple" in covered basin no.3 at Brest Dockyard in October 1793, she was renamed as "Vengeur" after the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2 in honour of the "Vengeur du Peuple" by a decree passed by the National Convention. She was launched on 1 October 1803 and completed in February 1804. She was again renamed in March 1805, becoming "Impérial".