Ламот-Пике, француз адмиралы және теңізшісінің өмірі мен қызметі

18th century French Navy officer and admiral

Count Toussaint Guillaume Picquet de la Motte, also known as La Motte Picquet (born 1 November 1720 in Rennes; died 10 June 1791 in Brest) was a French Navy officer and admiral. Over a career spanning 50 years, he served under Louis XV and Louis XVI and took part in 34 campaigns. He fought in the Seven Years' War and in the Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War, earning the ranks of Commandeur in the Order of Saint Louis in 1780, and of Grand Cross in 1784. He died during the French Revolution.

La Motte Picquet joined the Gardes de la Marine in Brest on 11 July 1735, then aged 15. Two years later, he served on the frigate Vénus in a campaign against the Barbary corsairs of Salé. On 1 January 1743, he rose to sous brigadier des gardes de la marine, and then to aide d'artillerie on 10 December, after serving in two campaigns in the English Channel and off Ireland on Mercure, under Dubois de La Motte, in a squadron under Roquefeuil. On 24 February 1784, La Motte Picquet departed Brest as first officer on the 24 gun frigate Cumberland, under Captain Mézédern, bound for Ile de France and Ile Bourbon. After calling A Coruña, Cumberland encountered a British 36 gun frigate, leading to an inconclusive battle where she lost 25 killed or wounded. After a 122 day travel, Cumberland reached Bourbon, and then Ile de France. From there, she departed for a cruise off India on 20 October 1748. Peace being restored in October 1748 with the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle, La Motte Picquet cruised in the Caribbean, in the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. In 1754, he rose to the rank of Lieutenant de Vaisseau.

In 1755, La Motte Picquet earned his first command. In October 1756, he was made a Knight in the Order of Saint Louis. In 1760, he was on convoy escort duty between Brest and Rochefort. In 1762, he was promoted to captain and appointed to Diadème. After the Peace of Paris in 1763, La Motte Picquet served in squadrons under Admiral d'Orvilliers and Duchaffaut. In September 1763, he was given command of the 32 gun frigate Malicieuse to undertake a 6 month cruise off Canada. In the next years, he conducted several raids against the Barbary corsairs of Salé. In 1772, commanding the 16 gun corvette Cerf Volant, he distinguished himself in a training squadron under Orvilliers. In 1776, he was given command of the 64 gun ship of the line Solitaire, with Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans as a notable participant.

After fifty two years of service and severe attacks of gout in his later years, La Motte Piquet died on 11 June 1791 in Brest, aged 70. He was buried in the local graveyard.

Five ships of the French Navy have been named La Motte Picquet in his honour, the most recent being the F70 Type frigate Lamotte Picquet, still in service as of 2020. A street in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, l'Avenue de la Motte Picquet, is named after him. The Paris metro station La Motte Picquet – Grenelle is located on the avenue, on the border of the 7th and 15th arrondissements of Paris.