Several ships of the French Navy have borne the name Mars, after Mars, the Roman god of war:

  • Mars (1705), broken up in 1721. Claude de Forbin's 60-gun flagship at the Battle of Beachy Head (1707).
  • Mars (1740), captured by HMS Nottingham off Cape Clear in 1746 and taken into service as HMS Mars. She was wrecked in 1755 near Halifax, Nova Scotia.
  • Mars (1762), wrecked in 1765.
  • Mars (1770), burnt in 1773.
  • Mars (1860), laid down in 1835 as Sceptre, renamed Masséna in 1840, redesigned as a screw steamer in 1856, launched and completed in 1860. Stricken in 1881 and used as an accommodation hulk at Toulon, renamed Mars in 1892. Broken up for scrap in 1906.
The 1860 French ship Mars (left) used as an accommodation hulk together with the Souverain and the Eylau (centre and right).

Privateers

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Several French privateers also bore the name.

See also

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