Aymar Joseph de Roquefeuil et du Bousquet Aymar - Joseph de Roquefeuil et du Bousquet ( 19 March 1714 , Brest , France – 1782 , Bourbonne - les - Bains ) , comte de Roquefeuil , was a French officer in the French Navy during the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI . Life . The eldest son of the naval lieutenant general Jacques Aymar de Roquefeuil et du Bousquet and his wife Jeanne - Louise du Main , Aymar Joseph de Roquefeuil was a descendant of the House of Roquefeuil - Blanquefort , one of the most illustrious Languedoc families . He became a garde - marine at Brest aged 13 in 1727 . Rising to ensign ( 1731 ) , he navigated the Baltic Sea to Saint Domingue and was made lieutenant de vaisseau in 1741 then Capitaine de Vaisseau and knight of the ordre de Saint Louis on 1 January 1746 , at only 32 years old , for noteworthy service over the last 19 years . He commanded the " Aquilon " for 15 months in the Antilles in 1750 and 1751 . Having the frigate of Duchaffault under his orders and accompanied by a British frigate , he skilfully fulfilled a delicate mission for which he was praised many times by the Rouillé ministry . This allowed him to actively collaborate with vicomte Sébastien - François Bigot de Morogues , commander of Brest , in the foundation of Brest ' s académie de Marine in 1752 , of which he and his younger brother were two of the first members , but which was decimated by the town ' s losses between 1756 and 1763 . Between 1754 and 1758 , Roquefeuil acted as second in command of a squadron in the Antilles , under La Galissonnière , Périer then Bompart . Promoted to chef d ' escadre des Armées navales on 1 January 1761 , at only 47 years old , and received the command of the ships and port at Brest , to which the king added command of Brest ' s town and castle and the Isle of Ushant on 25 March 1762 ( three positions his father had already held ) . In a brief presentation the navy minister wrote to the king about Roquefeuil , who approved in his own hand " He has served for nearly 40 years in the Navy , on 16 campaigns , has held 4 commands at sea and has for 5 years commanded the Port of Brest to the satisfaction of His Majesty " . Aged 52 , he was on 3 August 1766 made lieutenant general , retaining his Brest commands , where he and the minister Duc de Praslin were allowed to promote the new " Académie royale de marine " , under royal patronage , in April 1769 – Roquefeuil became its first director . He was promoted to vice - amiral on 6 April 1781 as well as Grand Croix of the Ordre royal et militaire de Saint - Louis . Assessment . He was a stubborn moderniser , a peerless organizer and a highly experimented sailor who left a deep imprint on the navy , the Brest fleet and the port and town of Brest during his 20 years in command of them ( 1761 – 81 ) then the two years he served as vice - amiral from 1781 until his death . Under his command , budgets were obtained from the king and his ministers and several powerful well - equipped ships were planned , launched and fitted out . These made up the remarkable " Fleet of Louis XVI " , probably the most coherent one France had ever possessed . Little known by the public , he is considered by naval historians as one of the main men behind the organization and realization of Louis XV and Louis XVI ' s naval policy which allowed French and American allies to beat Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War .