In the ancien Régime French Navy

History of the French Navy

Although the History of the French Navy goes back to the Middle Ages, its history can be said to effectively begin with Richelieu under Louis XIII.Since the establishment of her present territory, France had to face three major challenges on the naval level:...

, an officier d'épée (literally, sword

Sword

A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...

 officer) was a member of the "corps des officiers d'épée", one of the naval officer corps. This corps was divided between "officiers de vaisseau" (serving at sea) et "officiers de port" (serving in a port as pilot or in fleet maintenance). The other main corps was the administrative officier de plume

Officier de plume

In the ancien Régime French Navy, officiers de plume were officers working in the administration of ports and colonies, as opposed to officiers d'épée, who were officers at sea...

.