Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves
Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves | |
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Jean-Baptiste Barthélémy Thomas, comte d’Orves[1] (1727 — Orient, off Madras,[Note 1] 9 February 1782[2] ) was a French Navy officer, who rose to have flag officer rank.[Note 2]
Biography
Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves was born to the Estienne Family, a noble house of Provence.
Estienne d'Orves took part in the Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778, captaining the 74-gun Actif.[4][5]
In 1778, Estienne d'Orves was in command of the 80-gun Orient, with the rank of captain. On 28 December, during the Anglo-French War, he departed Brest to reinforce the French colony of Isle de France.[Note 3][6] When François-Jean-Baptiste l'Ollivier de Tronjoli, commander of the French forces in the Indian Ocean, was recalled to France, he transferred command to Estienne d'Orves.[7]
Estienne d'Orves led his squadron off the Coromandel Coast, with little effect.[8][9] In April 1781, his health deteriorating, Estienne d'Orves gave command of the division to Tromelin, and that of Orient to First Officer Bolle.[10] Suffren arrived at Isle de France with reinforcements on 25 October 1781, and Estienne d'Orves decided to mount a raid against British interests in India.[9]
On 7 December 1781, Estienne d'Orves departed Isle de France with 11 ships, 3 frigates and 3 corvettes, intending to attack Trincomalee. However, he changed his mind and decided to attack Madras instead.[11] However, in the following days, his failing health deteriorated to the point where he was not fit for duty, and he delegated command to Suffren.[12] He died on 9 February 1782, a few days before the Battle of Sadras.[2]
Assessment
Charles Cunat compares d'Orves to Tronjoli in that they both failed to seize the initiative against the British,[8] and contrasts them to Suffren's skill.[2] Admiral Rémi Monaque called d'Orves a "rather mediocre admiral".[13]
Sources and references
Notes
References
- ^ Henrat, Philippe (22 November 2015). "BOUDIN de TROMELIN Bernard Marie". Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ a b c Cunat, p.103
- ^ Cunat, p.84
- ^ Roche (2005), p. 19-20.
- ^ Troude (1867), p. 7.
- ^ Cunat, p.73
- ^ Cunat, p.83
- ^ a b Cunat, p.85
- ^ a b Cunat, p.94
- ^ Cunat, p.87
- ^ Cunat, p.98
- ^ Cunat, p.100
- ^ Monaque, 2017, p. 88
Bibliography
- Cunat, Charles (1852). Histoire du Bailli de Suffren. Rennes: A. Marteville et Lefas. pp. 447.
- Monaque, Rémi (2017). "Le Bailli Pierre-André de Suffren: A Precursor of Nelson". Naval Leadership in the Atlantic World: The Age of Reform and Revolution, 1700–1850. University of Westminster Press. pp. 85–92. JSTOR j.ctv5vddxt.12., CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0
- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours, 1671 - 1870. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. pp. 325–6. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
- Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France (in French). Vol. 2. Challamel ainé. OCLC 836362484.
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- CS1 French-language sources (fr)
- 1729 births
- 1788 deaths
- People from Aix-en-Provence
- French Navy admirals
- Counts of France
- French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War