French ship Redoutable (1855)
Redoubtable was one of five second-rank, 90-gun, steam-powered Algésiras-class ships of the line built for the French Navy in the 1850s. The ship participated in the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859 and was scrapped in 1873–1874.
| History | |
|---|---|
 Second French Empire | |
| Name: | Redoutable |
| Ordered: | 17 February 1853 |
| Builder: | Arsenal de Rochefort |
| Laid down: | 11 April 1853 |
| Launched: | 25 October 1855 |
| Completed: | November 1856 |
| Commissioned: | 24 November 1856 |
| In service: | 26 March 1857 |
| Stricken: | 15 November 1869 |
| Fate: | Scrapped, 1873–1874 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class and type: | Algésiras-class |
| Displacement: | 5,121 t (5,040 long tons) |
| Length: | 71.23 m (233 ft 8 in) (waterline) |
| Beam: | 16.8 m (55 ft 1 in) |
| Draught: | 8.45 m (27 ft 9 in) (full load) |
| Depth of hold: | 8.16 m (26 ft 9 in) |
| Installed power: | 8 boilers; 3,602 PS (2,649 kW) |
| Propulsion: | 1 screw; 2 horizontal-return connecting-rod steam engines |
| Sail plan: | Ship rigged |
| Speed: | 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement: | 913 |
| Armament: |
|
Description
The Algésiras-class ships were repeats of the pioneering ship of the line Napoléon and were also designed by naval architect Henri Dupuy de Lôme. They had a length at the waterline of 71.23 metres (233 ft 8 in), a beam of 16.8 metres (55 ft 1 in) and a depth of hold of 8.16 metres (26 ft 9 in). The ships displaced 5,121 tonnes (5,040 long tons) and had a draught of 8.45 metres (27 ft 9 in) at deep load. Their crew numbered 913 officers and ratings.[1]
The primary difference between Napoléon and the Algésiras class was that the boilers of the latter ships were moved forward of the engines. They were powered by a pair of four-cylinder horizontal-return connecting-rod steam engines that drove the single propeller shaft using steam provided by eight boilers.[1] The engines were rated at 910 nominal horsepower and produced 3,602 metric horsepower (2,649 kW).[2] The ships were fitted with three masts and ship rigged.[1]
The armament of the Algésiras-class ships consisted of eighteen 36-pounder (174.8 mm (6.9 in)) smoothbore cannon and sixteen 223.3 mm (8.8 in) Paixhans guns on the lower gundeck and thirty-four 30-pounder 164.7 mm (6.5 in) cannon on the upper gundeck. On the quarterdeck and forecastle were twenty 163 mm (6.4 in) Paixhans guns and a pair of 163 mm rifled muzzle-loading guns.[1]
Career
Redoutable took part in the Second Italian War of Independence under Captain Vincent Moulac. In 1860, she served off Beirut with Donawerth.[2]
She was decommissioned in 1865, was hulked in Brest and used as barracks until she was broken up in 1874.[2]
Citations
- Winfield & Roberts, p. 70
- Roche, I, p. 373
References
- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Tome I: 1671–1870. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
- Winfield, Rif & Roberts, Stephen S. (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.