Bucentaure-class ship of the line

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 Robuste
Class overview
Name	Bucentaure
Builders	Toulon, Lorient, Rochefort, Antwerp, Cherbourg
Operators	French Navy Two Sicilies Navy
Preceded by	Tonnant class
Succeeded by	Suffren class
In service	1804–1863
Completed	21
Cancelled	8+
Lost	4
General characteristics
Type	Ship of the line
Tons burthen	2,000 tonnes
Length	59.3 m (194 ft 7 in) (gundeck) 53.92 m (176 ft 11 in) (keel)
Beam	15.3 m (50 ft 2 in)
Depth of hold	7.8 m (25 ft 7 in)
Propulsion	Sail
Sail plan	2,683 m2 (28,880 sq ft)
Complement	866
Armament	80 guns (original) 30 × 36-livres 32 × 24-livres 18 × 12-livres 6 × 36-livre howitzers

Armament

As built, the first two ships of this class carried the same 80-gun armament as their predecessors of the Tonnant class - thirty 36-livre guns on the lower deck, thirty-two 24-livre guns on the upper deck, and eighteen 12-livre guns plus six 36-livre obusiers (howitzers) on the spar deck above (the French livre was about 8% greater than the British pound weight, so that 12 livres almost equaled 13 British pounds, and the 36-livre round equated to 38lbs 13.6oz).

Under the 1806 règlement, the spar deck ordnance was altered to fourteen 12-livre guns plus ten 36-livre carronades. Subsequently, additional 36-livre carronades were carried by most later ships of the class, raising them to 86-gun ships (with variations in actual numbers).

Ships in class

• Bucentaure

Builder: Toulon

Ordered: 16 September 1802

Begun: 22 November 1802

Launched: 13 July 1803

Completed: January 1804

Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy on 21 October 1805 following Trafalgar. Was briefly recaptured but was then wrecked on 23 October 1805.

• Neptune (i)

Builder: Toulon

Ordered: 16 September 1802

Begun: 4 January 1803

Launched: 15 August 1803

Completed: April 1804

Fate: Captured by the Spanish Navy in June 1808, renamed Neptuno, Broken up 1820.

• Robuste

Builder: Toulon

Ordered: 26 March 1805

Begun: May 1805

Launched: 30 October 1806

Completed: May 1807

Fate: Scuttled and burnt on 26 October 1809.

• Ville de Varsovie

Builder: Rochefort

Ordered: 30 April 1804

Begun: 22 March 1805 as Tonnant, renamed 14 May 1807

Launched: 10 May 1808

Completed: July 1808

Fate: Captured and burnt by the British in April 1809.

• Donawerth

Builder: Toulon

Ordered: 11 August 1806

Begun: December 1806

Launched: 4 July 1808

Completed: October 1808

Fate: Broken up 1824.

• Eylau

Builder: Lorient

Begun: September 1805

Launched: 19 November 1808

Completed: May 1809

Fate: Condemned 1829 and broken up.

• Friedland

Builder: Antwerp

Begun: July 1807

Launched: 2 May 1810

Completed: May 1811

Fate: Handed over to the Netherlands on 1 August 1814 and renamed Vlaming. Broken up 1823.

• Sceptre

Builder: Toulon

Ordered: 126 December 1808

Begun: March 1809

Launched: 15 August 1810

Completed: March 1811

Fate: Condemned 1828 and hulked.

• Tilsitt

Builder: Antwerp

Begun: September 1807

Launched: 15 August 1810

Completed: May 1811

Fate: Handed over to the Netherlands on 1 August 1814 and renamed Neptunus. Condemned and broken up 1818.

• Auguste

Builder: Antwerp

Begun: October 1807

Launched: 25 April 1811

Completed: July 1811

Fate: Handed over to the Netherlands on 1 August 1814 but returned to France in September and renamed Illustre. Condemned and broken up 1827.

• Pacificateur

Builder: Antwerp

Begun: September 1807

Launched: 22 May 1811

Completed: August 1811

Fate: Condemned 1823.

• Illustre

Builder: Antwerp

Begun: August 1807

Launched: 9 June 1811

Completed: October 1811

Fate: Handed over to the Netherlands on 1 August 1814 and renamed Prins van Oranje. Sold 1825 and broken up.

• Diademe

Builder: Lorient

Begun: November 1807

Launched: 1 December 1811

Completed: March 1812

Fate: Condemned 1856 and broken up 1868.

• Conquérant

Builder: Antwerp

Begun: December 1808

Launched: 27 April 1812

Completed: September 1812

Fate: Condemned 1831.

• Zélandais

Builder: Cherbourg

Begun: October 1810

Launched: 12 October 1813

Completed: March 1814

Fate: Condemned 1836 and hulked. Broken up 1858.

• Magnifique

Builder: Lorient

Begun: December 1809

Launched: 29 October 1814

Completed: November 1814

Fate: Condemned 1837.

• Centaure

Builder: Cherbourg

Begun: November 1811

Launched: 8 January 1818

Completed: April 1818

Fate: Renamed Santi Pietri in October 1823. Hulked 1849, burnt by accident 1862.

• Neptune (ii)

Builder: Lorient

Begun: December 1810

Launched: 21 March 1818

Completed: June 1818

Fate: Hulked 1858, broken up 1868.

• Algésiras

Builder: Lorient

Begun: April 1812

Launched: 21 August 1823

Completed: April 1824

Fate: Hulked 1846.

• Jupiter

Builder: Cherbourg

Begun: November 1811

Launched: 22 October 1831

Completed: September 1833

Fate: hulked 1863.

• Vesuvio

Builder: Castellammare di Stabia

Begun: August 1812

Launched: 2 December 1824

Completed: 1825

Fate: Not launched as French warship; became Neapolitan ship in December 1813.

No other vessels of this design were completed, the following were begun at Antwerp, but were taken over in 1814 by the Netherlands, were never launched or completed, and were broken up on the stocks.

• Mars

Begun: April 1811

• Alexandre

Begun: June 1811

• Tibre

Begun: June 1811

• Atlas

Begun: September 1811

• Fougueux

Begun: July 1812

A further ship to this same design was begun as Saturno in May 1812 at Venice, and was renamed Emo by the Austrians following their seizure of that city, but was broken up on the stocks in 1818–19. A second ship was ordered at Venice in 1813, but was never laid down. Finally a further ship of this class was ordered in 1812 at Rochefort, but was never laid down or even assigned a name.

References

• Demerliac, Alain. Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1774 a 1792. Nice: Editions Omega.
• Demerliac, Alain. Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1792 a 1799. Nice: Editions Omega.
• Demerliac, Alain. Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1799 a 1815. Nice: Editions Omega.
• Demerliac, Alain. Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1814 a 1848. Nice: Editions Omega.
• 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.