Soleil Royal

Soleil Royal (Royal Sun) was a French war vessel, flagship of Admiral Tourvllle. She was built in Brest and launched in 1669. She was believed to have the most magnificent and crafted decorations of all baroque flagships with the ymbol of the “sun” which had been opted by Louis XIV as his personal emblem.

Unfortunately, during one of the battles she was badly damaged on 1692 and has to undergo repairs. However, while trying to defend herself when she was attacked by 17 ships, she was destroyed and set on fire. Among all the crew around 950. there was only one survivor.

The ruins of the Soleil Royal are now entombed and since then some ships adopt its traditional name. Adetailed scale model of the hull and can/ings built in 1839 is nowadays exposed at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris.