Pégase-class ship of the line
The "Pégase" class was a class of 74-gun ships of the French Navy, built to a common design by naval constructor Antoine Groignard. It comprised six ships, all ordered during 1781 and all named on 13 July 1781. The name-ship of the class - "Pégase" - was captured by the British Navy just two months after her completion; the other five ships were all at Toulon in August 1793 when that port was handed over by French Royalists to the occupying Anglo-Spanish forces, and they were seized by the British Navy. When French  Republican forces forced the evacuation of the Allies in December, the "Puissant" was sailed to England (and - like the "Pégase" - was used as a harbour hulk there until the end of the Napoleonic Wars), and the "Liberté" (ex-"Dictateur") and "Suffisant" were destroyed during the evacuation of the port; the remaining pair were recovered by the French Navy - see their respective individual histories below.