Suffren-class ship of the line

Inflexible as a boys' school
Class overview
Name:	Suffren
Builders:	Toulon, Brest
Operators:	French Navy
Preceded by:	Bucentaure class ship of the line
Succeeded by:	Hercule class
Completed:	14
General characteristics
Class and type:	Suffren class ship of the line
Displacement:	4,070 tonnes
Length:	60.50 metres
Beam:	16.28 metres
Draught:	7.40 metres
Propulsion:	3,114 m² of sails
Complement:	810 to 846 men
Armament:	1824-1839: 30 × 30-pounder long guns on lower deck 32 × 30-pounder short guns on middle deck 24 × 30-pounder carronades and 4 × 18-pounders on upper decks 1839-1840 26 × 30-pounder long guns and 4 × 22cm Paixhans guns on lower deck 32 × 30-pounder short guns on middle deck 24 × 30-pounder carronades and 4 × 16 cm Paixhans guns on upper decks
Armour:	6.97 cm of timber

The Suffren class was a late type of 90-gun ships of the line of the French Navy.

The design was selected on 30 January 1824 by the Commission de Paris, an appointed Commission comprising Jean-Marguerite Tupinier, Jacques-Noël Sané, Pierre Rolland, Pierre Lair and Jean Lamorinière. Intended as successors of the 80-gun Bucentaure class and as the third of four ranks of ships of the line,^[1] they introduced the innovation of having straight walls, instead of the tumblehome design that had prevailed until then; this tended to heighten the ships' centre of gravity, but provided much more room for equipment in the upper decks. Stability issues were fixed with underwater stabilisers.

Only the first two, Suffren and Inflexible, retain the original design all through their career; the others were converted to steam and sail during their construction.^[2]

Design
Straight walls of an arsenal model of Suffren, with the lower long 30-pounder battery, the upper short 30-pounder battery, and the 30-pounder carronades on the deck

Units

Fourteen ships were ordered to this design, of which twelve were modified as steam-driven vessels.

• Suffren

Builder: Cherbourg

Begun: August 1824

Launched: 27 August 1829

Completed: March 1831

Fate: Deleted February 1861, renamed Ajax in April 1865, and taken to pieces 1874-76.

• Inflexible

Builder: Rochefort

Begun: August 1827

Launched: 21 November 1839

Completed: August 1840

Fate: Condemned August 1875.

• Bayard

Builder: Lorient

Begun: July 1823

Launched: 28 August 1847

Completed: August 1849

Fate: Renamed Triton in August 1876

• Duguesclin

Builder: Rochefort

Begun: March 1823

Launched: 3 May 1848

Completed: August 1848

Fate: Wrecked 14 December 1859; refloated and taken to pieces in June 1860

• Breslaw

Builder: Brest

Begun: May 1827

Launched: 31 July 1848

Completed: 1849

Fate: Deleted in May 1871, renamed Breslau 1881 and taken to pieces 1886-87.

• Charlemagne

Builder: Toulon

Begun: April 1834

Launched: 16 January 1851

Completed: December 1851 (as steam screw ship)

Fate: Condemned in February 1882. Taken to pieces 1884

• Jean Bart

Builder: Lorient

Begun: 28 January 1849

Launched: 14 September 1852

Completed: April 1853 (as steam screw ship)

Fate: Renamed Donawerth in August 1868; sold or broken up in 1869

• Donawerth

Builder: Lorient

Begun:

Launched: 15 February 1854

Completed:

Fate:

• Tilsitt

Builder: Cherbourg

Begun:

Launched: 30 March 1854

Completed:

Fate:

• Saint Louis

Builder: Brest

Begun:

Launched: 25 April 1854

Completed:

Fate:

• Alexandre

Builder: Rochefort

Begun:

Launched: 27 March 1857

Completed:

Fate:

• Fontenoy

Builder: Toulon

Begun:

Launched: 2 December 1858

Completed:

Fate:

• Masséna

Builder: Toulon

Begun:

Launched: 15 March 1860

Completed:

Fate:

• Castiglione

Builder: Toulon

Begun:

Launched: 14 July 1860

Completed:

Fate:

References

1. Les vaisseaux de la commission de Paris (1824), Nicolas Mioque
2. 80/90-guns ships-of-the-line

• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours, 1671–1870. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.