Q&A ยท 1:27:08-1:28:18

Preserving an eighteenth-century French 74

A surviving French 74-gun ship restored to its third-rate configuration belongs in a maritime museum.

Question

What would you do with a surviving 1757 French 74-gun ship in its original third-rate configuration?

Short answer

Preserve it as a museum ship, preferably at a sheltered site on Cornwall's Channel coast.

Notes

The surviving ship belongs in a museum. A sheltered site on Cornwall's Channel coast could protect it while presenting a rare surviving example of an eighteenth-century ship of the line. Returning the razeed vessel to its original third-rate form would make its gun-deck arrangement and French naval construction visible to visitors. The joking alternatives underline how exceptional a surviving 1757 seventy-four would be.