Louis-René Levassor de Latouche Tréville

Vice-Admiral Louis-René Madelaine Le Vassor, comte de Latouche-Tréville (French pronunciation: [lwi ʁəne madlɛn lə vasɔʁ kɔ̃t də latuʃ tʁevil]; 3 June 1745 – 19 August 1804) was a French Navy officer and politician who served in the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Born into an aristocratic family of naval officers, Latouche enlisted in the French navy at the age of 13. He rose to become a competent frigate captain, engaging several British ships during the American Revolutionary War. His two-frigate squadron once damaged a 74-gun ship of the line to the point of sinking, and he was entrusted with important personalities of the time as passengers, notably Louis XVI and Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.

During the French Revolution, Latouche, a Freemason and aide to Phillipe Égalité, took progressive positions as a deputy in the Estates General and later in the National Constituent Assembly. His aristocratic status nevertheless made him a target during the Reign of Terror, and he was imprisoned and only freed from prison by the Thermidorian Reaction.

Returning to the Navy after a long period of unemployment, Latouche took command of the Flottille de Boulogne, where he repelled raids on Boulogne organised by Horatio Nelson. He then served in the Saint-Domingue expedition, which irrevocably compromised his health. After his return, he took command of the French fleet in Toulon, reorganising it into a potent tool again, but he succumbed to a relapse of illness before he had a chance to use it. Under his successor Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, the fleet he had refurbished was annihilated at the Battle of Trafalgar.