Idea #734 – Getting on board of l’Etoile du Roy, privateer frigate, in Saint Malo
Rigged in three masts, the Etoile du Roy is a replica of a 1745 Corsair frigate. This 310-ton vessel was armed with 20 cannons and accommodated 236 crew on board, forming a sixth-rank frigate. The construction of the Etoile du Roy is said to have been modeled on an 18th-century British frigate, HMS Blandford, built in 1741 in accordance with the British Admiralty’s “1733 Establishment”. Its sponsor, Michael Turk, is the heir of a long line of shipowners, who wished to reproduce identically a frigate escorting the heavy ships of the line of Admiral Nelson’s fleet.
The ship was built in Turkey in 1997 and initially named Grand Turk, due to its sponsor. It was notably used for film purposes and appeared in the British television series Hornblower, alongside the Etoile de France. The third largest traditional French ship, the Etoile du Roy can now accommodate 120 people at sea. Its home port is Saint-Malo.
The original name of “Grand Turk” comes from its builder Michael Turk. Willing patronymic coincidences or chance, the Grand Turk was also a 260 ton privateer captured in June 1746; its owner was Anquetil, Sieur de la Brutière and his captain Robert Leturc, name of a family of shipowners from Saint-Servan, according to the registers of the Admiralty of Saint-Malo, kept in the Departmental Archives, in France.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Saint Malo, Brittany, France
