Conference - Jacques Noël Sané, naval architect

David Plouviez, lecturer at the University of Nantes, talks about Jacques Noël Sané, the naval architect behind most of the ships built in France in the late 18th and early 20th centuries.

Jacques-Noël Sané, born in Brest on February 18, 1740 and died in Paris on August 22, 1831, was a French shipbuilding engineer, also known as the "Vauban of the navy". He designed almost all the ships of the line built in France from the American War of Independence to the end of the First Empire. He was responsible for the construction of over 150 warships during his career, including 9 vessels of 118 guns, 5 of 110, 27 of 80 and 107 of 74 guns.

He can be considered the greatest engineer-builder in the history of the sailing navy, the one who brought it to its highest level of perfection. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Tropez sailors sailed on the vessels he designed. David Plouviez, lecturer at the University of Nantes and author of a thesis on shipbuilding and its networks in the 18th century, as part of the Patrimoine Tropézien association's 2025 - 2026 lecture series, presents this illustrious man who is little known to the general public.

Friday 14 November 2025 from 5.30 pm.

Free of charge.