 Scale model of Protecteur on display at the Musée de la Marine in Paris. This model is a 64-gun, probably mislabeled. | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Souverain class |
| Builders | Toulon [1] |
| Operators |  French Navy |
| Completed | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ship of the line |
| Displacement | 1530 tonnes [1] |
| Length | 54.6 m (179 ft 2 in) [1] |
| Beam | 14.3 m (46 ft 11 in) [1] |
| Draught | 7 m (23 ft 0 in) [1] |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Armament | 74 guns |
| Armour | Timber |
The Souverain class was a type of two 74-gun ships of the line.
The Océan-class ships of the line were a series of 118-gun three-decker ships of the line of the French Navy, designed by engineer Jacques-Noël Sané. Fifteen were completed from 1788 on, with the last one entering service in 1854; a sixteenth was never completed, and four more were never laid down.
The Dublin-class ships of the line were a class of seven 74-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade.
The Téméraire-class ships of the line were a class of a hundred and twenty 74-gun ships of the line ordered between 1782 and 1813 for the French navy or its attached navies in dependent (French-occupied) territories. Although a few of these were cancelled, the type was and remains the most numerous class of capital ship ever built to a single design.
The Magicienne class was a class of twelve fifth rate 32-gun frigates of the French Navy, each with a main battery of 26 x 12-pounder long guns, and with 6 x 6-pounder guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle. They were designed by Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb.
The Aurore class was a class of fifteen coastal submarines designed for the French Navy. The prototype – Aurore – was authorised in 1934, the next four in 1937, a further four in 1938, two in 1938, and a final four subsequently. Some of the ships were captured by Nazi Germany after the Fall of France, most of them in an unfinished state; two were intended to be completed for the German Navy, Africaine becoming UF-1 and Favorite becoming UF-2, but only the first was completed during the World War II, the second reverting to French control while still uncompleted.
The Iphigénie class was a group of nine 32-gun/12-pounder frigates of the French Navy, built during the late 1770s at Lorient and Saint Malo. They were designed by Léon Guignace. The seven built at Saint Malo were initially numbered Nos. 1 – 7 respectively, and not given names until October 1777 and the start of 1778 ; all seven were captured by the British Navy between 1779 and the end of 1800. Of the two built at Lorient, the Spanish captured one, and a storm wrecked the other.
The César class or Zélé class included two 74-gun ships of the line designed by Joseph Coulomb. They were a development of his earlier 74-gun ship, the Zélé of 1763.
The Centaure class was a class of 74-gun ships of the line of the French Navy, comprising four ships, all of which built at Toulon Dockyard to a design dated 28 March 1782 by Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb in the year following the close of the American Revolutionary War. The first pair were ordered on 15 February 1782, and were named on 13 April. After the first two ships were begun, the design was amended for the second pair – which are accordingly often described as the Séduisant class. This second pair were ordered on 1 June 1782 and named on 21 August. All four ships were destroyed or captured by the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary War.
The Pallas class constituted the standard design of 40-gun frigates of the French Navy during the Napoleonic Empire period. Jacques-Noël Sané designed them in 1805, as a development of his seven-ship Hortense class of 1802, and over the next eight years the Napoléonic government ordered in total 62 frigates to be built to this new design. Of these some 54 were completed, although ten of them were begun for the French Navy in shipyards within the French-occupied Netherlands or Italy, which were then under French occupation; these latter ships were completed for the Netherlands or Austrian navies after 1813.
Jacques-Noël Sané designed the Hortense-class 40-gun frigates of the French Navy in 1802, a development of his 1793 design for the Virginie class. Eight frigates to this new design were ordered between 1801 and 1806, but two ordered on 18 April 1803 at Antwerp were cancelled unstarted in June 1803; the other six were built between 1803 and 1807. Of the six, one was wrecked at sea and the British Royal Navy captured three, taking two into service.
The Romaine class was a class of nine frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1794 by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait. They were originally designated as "bomb-frigates" and were intended to carry a main armament of twenty 24-pounder guns and a 12-inch mortar mounted on a turntable in front of the mizzen mast. Experience quickly led to the mortars being removed, and the 24-pounders were replaced by 18-pounder guns. The ships also featured a shot furnace, but they proved impractical, dangerous to the ships themselves, and were later discarded. A further eleven ships ordered to this design in 1794 were not built, or were completed to altered designs.
Souverain was an Océan type 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was launched in 1819 and transformed into a steam ship in 1853.
The Bucentaure class was a class of 80-gun French ships of the line built to a design by Jacques-Noël Sané from 1802 onwards, of which at least 29 were ordered but only 21 ships were launched. They were a development from his earlier Tonnant class.
The Suffren class was a late type of 90-gun ships of the line of the French Navy.
The Nymphe class was a class of six 40-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1781 by Pierre-Augustin Lamothe. The prototype (Nymphe) was one of the earliest 18 pounders (8.2 kg) armed frigates.
The Forte class was a class of two large frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1794 by François Caro. They carried 30 24-pounder long guns as their main battery and 20 x 8 pdrs on the quarterdeck and forecastle; they were exceptionally large and powerful heavy frigates for their time.
The Pégase class was a class of 74-gun ships of the French Navy, built to a common design by naval constructor Antoine Groignard. It comprised six ships, all ordered during 1781 and all named on 13 July 1781.
The Abeille class was a type of 16-gun brig-corvette of the French Navy, designed by François Pestel with some units refined by Pierre-Jacques-Nicolas Rolland. They were armed with either 24-pounder carronades, or a mixture of light 6-pounder long guns and lighter carronades. Twenty-one ships of this type were built between 1801 and 1812, and served in the Napoleonic Wars.
The Vésuve class was a class of seven 4-gun gunbrigs (bricks-canonniers).
The Charmante class was a group of five 32-gun/12-pounder frigates of the French Navy, built during the late 1770s at Brest Nantes and Saint Malo. They were designed by Jean-Denis Chevillard. Of the five ships, two were wrecked, two were captured by the British, and one by the Spanish.