1687 - A Dry Dock in Brest
- Luc CHAMBON
- Apr 21
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 7
Founded in 1631 as a military dockyard by Archbishop and Prime Minister Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu (†1642), the port of Brest has just been endowed with a dry dock after four years of work.
The permanent installation of Royal dockyards on the Atlantic coast was thwarted by lack of stability and of loyalty of Governors and Admirals from the wars of religion until the end of the Fronde.
It notably jeopardised the destiny of La Rochelle. It also affected Bordeaux and Nantes by the regression of their activity except the Dutch grip on wine trade. Brouage, chosen by Richelieu as a second port on the Atlantic ocean, is locked by silt by now. Le Havre lost competition against Rochefort in 1666 owing to intense lobbying of Charles-Jean Colbert (†1684), known as Colbert du Terron, relayed by his cousin, Jean-Baptiste Colbert (†1683) : they converted the defects of the site into virtues, that are the marshes around, the meanders and narrowness of the Charente river, as protections against enemy.
Colbert du Terron, intendant de marine à la Rochelle, qui, ayant voulu acheter Rochefort et le seigneur s'étant opiniâtré à ne le point vouloir vendre, de dépit y voulut être plus maître que lui. Il persuada à la cour, où son nom alors l'appuyait fort, que c'était le lieu du monde le meilleur pour en faire un excellent port et le plus propre aux constructions des navires. On le crut, on y dépensa des millions. Du Terron, par ce moyen, devint le maître et le tyran du lieu et du seigneur qui n'avait pas voulu le lui vendre.
Saint-Simon, memoirs
Even if the choice of Rochefort was not that sound, Colbert du Terron bore down in its construction and equipment, to an achievement but to the detriment of Brest at some extent.
Brest is therefore the only harbour for large vessels on the Western shoreline - an uniqueness which is a thorn in French navy's side. It has lacked equipment for long as Rochefort, and Port-Louis in a smaller extent, absorbed funds.
This dry dock built in Brest is the second in France after the first one completed in 1671 at Rochefort, which is very late if one considers the outstanding expansion of the French navy and of its needs. It is even exceedingly late if we compare with the two rival navies of England and of the United Provinces. The United Provinces have four dry docks, two in Amsterdam, one in Rotterdam and another at Vlissingen. On its own, England built its first dock in 1495 in Portsmouth, and three other in 1513, one at Deptford and two at Woolwich, before adding two other at Deptford in 1620 and 1623.
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