Argonaute-class ship of the line

Class overview
Name:	Argonaute
Operators:	French Navy
Completed:	2[1]
General characteristics
Class & type:	Argonaute class
Length:	55.22 metres
Beam:	14.29 metres
Draught:	7.39 metres
Propulsion:	Sails
Armament:	74 guns[2] comprising: Lower deck ("1st tier") 28 x 36-pounder long guns Upper deck ("2nd tier") 30 x 18-pounder long guns Gaillards ("3rd tier") 16 x 8-pounder long guns

The Argonaute class was a class of two 74-gun ships of the French Navy, built to a common design by naval constructor François-Guillaume Clairin-Deslauriers. The design was lengthened by 4feet 9½ inches (4½ pieds) from the designer's previous Scipion class, which had been found to lack stability. The designer died on 10 October 1780, and the construction of these ships was completed by Jean-Denis Chevillard, who was appointed his successor as ingénieur-constructeur en chef at that dockyard in July 1781.^[3]

Ships

• Argonaute^[4]

Builder: Rochefort Dockyard

Ordered: June 1779

Begun: August 1779

Launched: 5 June 1781

Completed: December 1781

Fate: Cut down (raséed) to a 'heavy' frigate 1793-94 and renamed Flibustier; disarmed in December 1795 and later taken to pieces.

• Brave ^[5]

Builder: Lorient Dockyard

Ordered: June 1779

Begun: October 1779

Launched: 6 June 1781

Completed: November 1781

Fate: Cut down (raséed) to a 'heavy' frigate 1793-94 (but not renamed); reduced to a hulk at Brest in January 1798, and later taken to pieces.

Notes and References

Notes

References

1. Winfield & Roberts, French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861, p.86.
2. Winfield & Roberts, French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861, p.86.
3. Winfield & Roberts, French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861, p.86.
4. Roche, p.48
5. Roche, p.84

Bibliography

• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. p. 508. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
• Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.