text: The first seven years of this reign were under the Regency of Marie de Médicis, the consort of Henri IV – Louis XIII's father, who had been assassinated in 1610. Following the Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré and the Siege of La Rochelle, and in line with his general efforts to enhance the prestige and status of France in Europe, the Cardinal de Richelieu had a number of warships purchased from Holland, and eventually built in France by Holland-instructed French engineers. The largest of these early ships of the line, such as the famous 72-gun Couronne launched in 1638, would mount a number of guns comparable to later units of the 18th and 19th century, but the brunt of these ships would mount between 20 and 40 guns. The artillery was also comparatively lighter: the Couronne mounted 18-pounder long guns on her main battery, where any of the numerous 74-gun ships of the line that formed the backbone of the Navy from the late 18th century would mount 36-pounder long guns and 18-pounders would become common on frigates.
  Ships of the Line ("vaisseaux")
  Ours d'Or (purchased 1618 at Middlebourg) – not mentioned after 1624
  Dutch-built vessels
  Pellicorne (or Notre Dame de La Victoire or Saint Marie) (1619) – condemned 1640
  Saint Esprit (1619) – not mentioned after 1624
  Galion de Guise (May 1620) – Flagship of the Flotte du Levant 1621–22; accidentally burnt (in combat by French fireship) at Barcelona on 2 July 1642
  Grand Galion de Malte (loaned May 1621) – returned to the Order of Malta in 1623
  Saint Jean (1621) – disarmed 1637
  Saint Michel (June 1621) – not mentioned after 1623
  Vessels purchased in January 1625 at Blavet from the Order of the Milice Chrétienne; on 18 January all five were captured by Huguenot forces in a raid, but were retaken or destroyed by the King's forces later in 1625
  Saint Basile (1625) – disposal unknown
  Saint François (1625) – destroyed in action 17 September 1625
  Saint Jean (1625) – converted to fireship 1640
  Saint Louis de Nevers (1625) – disposal unknown
  Saint Michel (1625) – deleted 1629