Jacques-Noël Sané (18 February 1740, Brest – 22 August 1831, Paris) was a French naval engineer. He was the creator of standardised designs for ships of the line and frigates fielded by the French Navy in the 1780s, which served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars and in some cases remained in service into the 1860s. Captured ships of his design were commissioned in the Royal Navy and even copied. His achievements earned Sané the nickname of "naval Vauban." Biography Born in Brest in a family of sailors, Sané became a student engineer in 1758 and joined the naval construction academy in Paris in 1765, graduating On 1 October 1766 as an assistant engineer. In 1767, he worked under Ollivier the Elder on naval ships, and with Antoine Choquet de Lindu on merchant ships. In 1769, he embarked on the fluyt , bound for Martinique with four scows and a dredger of his design. Promoted to engineer in 1774, he designed the 74-gun, comprising and . He then worked on several 12-pounder frigates. During the War of American Independence, Navy minister Sartine, his successor Castries, and engineer Borda requested standard plans to standardise the production of 18-pounder frigates (equivalent to the British fifth-rate), 74-gun ships of the line (equivalent to the British third-rate), 80-gun two-deckers (without equivalent: similar to a third-rate, but longer than a second-rate and with comparable firepower), and 118-gun three-deckers (equivalent to the British first-rate). Sané won three successive competitions: in 1782, his was selected for the 74-guns in 1785, his was selected for the 118-guns in 1787, his was later selected for the 80-guns In 1784, Sané had his only child, Amélie Fanny Gabrielle; she would later marry Captain Delarue de la Gréardière, and die in December 1812. On 18 June 1787, Sané joined the Académie de Marine. In April 1779, he arrived in Saint-Malo for the construction of the , a 12-pounder 38-gun frigate. He furthermore drew the plans of the frigates , , and . In 1789, he was promoted to sub-director of naval constructions. In 1793, as director of Brest Harbour, he decided to raze the older ships Brutus, and . He was made a member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1796, and naval construction inspector on 7 July 1798, responsible for the coast of the Atlantic and of the English Channel; his duty comprised inspection of the