Tonnant-class ship of the line

A Tonnant-class ship of the line, HMS Canopus, the former Franklin
Class overview
NameTonnant
BuildersToulon, Brest and Rochefort
Operators
  •  French Navy
  •  Royal Navy
Preceded bySaint-Esprit class
Succeeded byBucentaure class
In commission1790–1834
Planned11
Completed8
Cancelled3
Lost7
Retired1
General characteristics
TypeShip of the line
Displacement1,800 tonnes
Length59.28 m (194.5 ft)
Beam15.27 m (50.1 ft)
Draught7.80 m (25.6 ft)
Depth of hold7.64 m (25.1 ft)
PropulsionSail
Complement854 in wartime (866 by 1802)
Armament
  • 80 guns
  • 30 36-livres (= 38.875 lbs)
  • 32 24-livres (= 26.92 lbs)
  • 18 12-livres (= 12.96 lbs
  • 4 36-livre howitzers
ArmourTimber
NotesShips in class include: Tonnant,

Indomptable, Sans Pareil, Indivisible, Foudroyant, Formidable, Guillaume Tell,

Franklin.

The Tonnant class was a series of eight 80-gun ships of the line designed in 1787 by Jacques-Noël Sané, whose plans for the prototype were approved on 29 September 1787. With sixteen gunports on the lower deck on each side (although only fifteen of these ports on each side were routinely provided with 36-livre guns) these were the most effective two-deckers of their era. Their broadside of 1,102 livres equated to 1,190 British pounds weight, over 50% more than the standard British 74-gun ship, and even greater than that of a British 100-gun three-decker.[1]

Five ships were ordered from 1787 to 1793, and all were completed during the 1790s; six more were ordered in January 1794 to be built to this design at Toulon, but only three of these were named and built. All but one of the eight ships were to be captured or destroyed by the British Navy, and four of these were to enjoy long careers in their new service. The prizes were highly regarded by British sea officers, but they proved costly and time-consuming to maintain.

From 1802 a new group (the Bucentaure class) of French 80-gun ships was begun of slightly modified design, of which more than 24 were begun.

Tonnant class (8 ships)

The design dimensions of these ships (in French pieds of 324.84mm) were 182.5 overall length, 167 keel length x 47.0 breadth x 23.5 depth in hold (see General Characteristics box for metric equivalents and those in UK/US units).

  • Tonnant
Builder: Toulon
Begun: December 1787
Launched: 24 October 1789
Completed: September 1790
Fate: Captured 2 August 1798 in the Battle of the Nile, added to Royal Navy as HMS Tonnant, broken up 1821
  • Indomptable
Builder: Brest
Begun: September 1788
Launched: 20 December 1790
Completed: April 1793
Fate: Wrecked off Rota 22 October 1805 after the Battle of Trafalgar
  • Sans Pareil
Builder: Brest
Begun: October 1790
Launched: 8 June 1793
Completed: September 1793
Fate: Captured 1 June 1794 by the Royal Navy during Fourth Battle of Ushant, broken up October 1842
  • Indivisible
Builder: Brest
Begun: May 1793
Launched: 8 July 1799
Completed: October 1799
Fate: Renamed Alexandre 5 February 1802, captured by Britain 6 February 1805, hulked 1808 and sold to be broken up May 1822
  • Foudroyant
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered: December 1793
Launched: 18 May 1799
Completed: August 1800
Fate: Struck 26 October 1833 and broken up 1834
  • Formidable
Builder: Toulon
Begun: August 1794
Launched: 17 March 1795
Completed: October 1795
Fate: Captured 3 November 1805 during Battle of Cape Ortegal, renamed HMS Brave, broken up April 1816
  • Guillaume Tell
Builder: Toulon
Begun: September 1794
Launched: 21 October 1795
Completed: July 1796
Fate: Captured 31 March 1800 off Malta, renamed HMS Malta, broken up August 1840
  • Franklin
Builder: Toulon
Begun: November 1794
Launched: 25 June 1797
Completed: March 1798
Fate: Captured 2 August 1798 in the Battle of the Nile, renamed HMS Canopus, broken up October 1887

Citations

  1. ^ Winfield & Roberts (2015) p.56

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tonnant class ship of the line.
  • Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2017) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626–1786: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.. Naval Institute Press, 2017. ISBN 978-1-4738-9351-1.
  • Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Tonnant-class ship-of-the-line
  • Tonnant
  • Sans Pareil
  • Indomptable
  • Guillaume Tell
  • Formidable
  • Franklin
  • Indivisible
  • Foudroyant
  • Preceded by: Deux Frères
  • Followed by: Bucentaure class
  • v
  • t
  • e
French Navy ship of the line classes timeline, 1750s–1900s
Type 1750s–1760s 1770s–1780s 1790s–1800s 1810s–1820s 1830s–1840s 1850s–1860s 1870s–1880s 1890s–1900s
50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 00 05 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 00 05
130 gun three-decker Bretagne
110-120 gun three-decker Sans-Pareil class Océan class
Bretagne Valmy
Terrible class Commerce de Paris class
90-100 gun two-decker Napoléon class
Suffren class
Hercule class
80-gun two-decker Saint-Esprit class
Deux Frères Bucentaure class
Tonnant class
74-gun two-decker Hector class
Magnifique class
Souverain class
Diadème class
Citoyen class
Marseillois
César class
Magnanime class
Annibal class
Scipion class
Pégase class
Téméraire class
Centaure class