text: 74-gun ships ("vaisseaux de 74") of the Louis XV era
  These formed overwhelmingly the core of the French battlefleet throughout the 18th century. Initially these carried just 26 guns – all 36-pounders – in their first (lower deck) battery and 28 guns in their second (upper deck) battery, with 16 guns on the gaillards (quarterdeck and forecastle) – the total of 74 guns being achieved by having 4 small guns (4-pounders) on the 'dunette' (poop); this applied to twelve of the first thirteen vessels listed below. The exception in this group was the 70-gun Aimable, which – while having the same number of ports (except for the poop, where the 4-pounder guns on other ships were never included) – had only 24-pounders in its first (lower deck) battery. The 4-pounders were removed from the poop of all active units of this type by about 1750, reducing each to a 70-gun ship.
  Sceptre 74 (launched July 1720 at Brest, designed by Étienne Hubac) – taken to pieces in 1745.
  Bourbon 74 (launched September 1720 at Brest, designed by Laurent Helie) – foundered on 12 April 1741.
  Saint Philippe 74 (launched 1722 at Rochefort, designed by Pierre Masson, finished by Blaise Ollivier) – condemned 1745 and taken to pieces in 1746.