French ship Pacificateur (1811)

	The Robuste, sister-ship of the Pacificateur
History
France
Name:	Pacificateur
Namesake:	Pacifier
Ordered:	July 1807
Builder:	Anvers, Belgium
Laid down:	1808
Launched:	1811
In service:	22 May 1811
Stricken:	1824
General characteristics
Class and type:	Bucentaure-class
Type:	ship of the line
Length:	55.88 m (183.33 ft) (overall); 53.92 m (176.90 ft) (keel);
Beam:	15.27 m (50.10 ft)
Depth of hold:	7.63 m (25.03 ft)
Propulsion:	Sail
Sail plan:	2,683 m2 (28,879.57 sq ft)
Complement:	866
Armament:	80 guns; 30 × 36-pounders; 32 × 24-pounders; 18 × 12-pounders; 6 × 36-pounder howitzers;

The Pacificateur was a Bucentaure-class 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, designed by Sané. She is notable for being the first ship to sustain damage from Paixhans shells.

History

Commissioned in Antwerp in 1814, Pacificateur remained anchored at the entrance of the harbour to protect it until the Bourbon Restoration. In September 1814, she arrived in Brest, where she stayed until she was condemned, in 1824.

For her disposal, it was decided to use Pacificateur as a target ship to test new 22 cm canon-obusiers invented by Henri-Joseph Paixhans. The wooden sides of Pacificateur sustained devastating damages from the explosive shell, starting the decline of wooden warships and rise of the ironclads.

References

Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. p. 337. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.

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