The French ship Léopard was a 74-gun Téméraire-class ship of the line constructed for the French Navy in the 1780s. Laid down at the Arsenal de Brest on 15 November 1785, she was launched on 22 June 1787 and completed by July of that year. The vessel measured approximately 55.87 meters (183 ft 4 in) in length, with a beam of 14.46 meters (47 ft 5 in), and a depth of hold of 7.15 meters (23 ft 5 in). She displaced around 3,069 tonneaux, with a tonnage of 1,537 port tonneaux, and had a mean draught of 7.15 meters. Léopard was ship-rigged with three masts and carried a crew of about 705 officers and ratings during wartime. Armament-wise, Léopard was equipped with a formidable array of muzzle-loading, smoothbore guns, characteristic of the Téméraire class. Her armament included twenty-eight 36-pounder long guns on the lower gun deck, thirty 18-pounder long guns on the upper gun deck, and an additional twelve 8-pounder long guns along with ten 36-pounder carronades on the quarterdeck and forecastle. This made her a powerful vessel capable of engaging in line-of-battle tactics typical of the period. Léopard's early service included a cruise in the Caribbean starting on 30 October 1788, under Captain de la Galissoninère, after sailing from Toulon. Her career was marred by internal conflict; notably, a mutiny occurred on 15 September 1790 following a fight between sailors from Léopard and another ship, Patriote. This incident led to the entire crew of Léopard being expelled from the Navy by decree of the National Constituent Assembly. From 1792, Léopard participated in the Expédition de Sardaigne under Captain Bourdon-Gramont, during which she captured Carloforte on 8 January 1793. Her service ended when she ran aground in a storm off Cagliari on 17 February 1793. After two days of efforts to refloat her, the crew abandoned the ship and set her on fire to prevent her from falling into enemy hands, following the removal of her guns and matériel. Léopard's history reflects the turbulent period of the late 18th century and highlights her role as a significant, if somewhat minor, vessel of the French Navy during the revolutionary era.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.