''Dupleix'' was a wooden-hulled screw

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

of the built for the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

. She was the first French vessel named after the 18th century governor of Pondichéry and governor general of the French possessions in India,

Marquess A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wid ...

Joseph François Dupleix Joseph Marquis Dupleix (; Unknown – 10 November 1763) was Governor-General of French India and rival of Robert Clive. Biography Dupleix was born in Landrecies, on January 23, 1697. His father, François Dupleix, a wealthy '' fermier gén� ...

Laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

in 1856 at Cherbourg Dockyard and commissioned in 1861, ''Dupleix'' was assigned to France's Far East colonies. There, the vessel took part in the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

and

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. The ship returned to France and performed fishery patrols off Iceland until being taken out of service in 1887. The ship was scrapped in 1890.

Background and description

In 1855 the Minister of Marine formed a commission to reorganize the French fleet. The commission created new classifications for ship types based on engine capability and as a result, ships formerly rated as

s lost that designation. This opened the need for new corvettes with increased armament and size. ''Dupleix'' and the were the result of the new requirements. ''Dupleix''s overall design was by Louis-François Octave Vésignié, while the vessel's machinery was designed by Victorin Sabattier. ''Dupleix'' had a wooden hull that measured long and at the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. A waterline can also refer to any line on a ship's hull that is parallel to the water's surface when the ship is afloat in a level trimmed position. Hence, wate ...

. The vessel had a maximum beam of and a max draught of . The vessel had a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of and was crewed by 191 sailors. The corvette was propelled by a single

screw A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

turned by a 400

nominal horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are th ...

two-cylinder trunk engine powered by steam from oval boilers. During trials, ''Dupleix'' achieved . The ship carried of coal for fuel and had a maximum speed of . The vessels were also equipped with sails for propulsion. As built, ''Dupleix'' mounted ten M1860 rifles. These were later removed and replaced by twelve M1870 rifles.

Construction and career

The

placed an order for the ship based on Vésigniés design on 1 October 1856. The ship was built at the Cherboug Dockyard under the supervision of Vésignié, Nathaniel Villaret and Adrien Joyeux. The

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 9 October 1856 and the vessel was launched on 28 March 1861. The machinery was ordered from Indret in March 1858 and installation was completed in December 1861. ''Dupleix'', named for the 18th century governor of Pondichéry and governor general of the French possessions in India,

, was commissioned on 13 June 1861. After her commissioning, ''Dupleix'' was sent to the Chinese Sea under Vice-Admiral Jaures. She arrived in

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

on 25 August 1862, and made short stops in

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

and the port of

Hakodate is a Cities of Japan, city and seaports of Japan, port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of January 31, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 239,813 with 138,807 househol ...

on the island of

Hokkaidō is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...

, before arriving in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

Bombardment of Shimonoseki

During the bombardment of Shimonoseki (5 September 1864), ''Dupleix'' was second in the line of corvettes, between the British and the Dutch ''Metallkruz''. She fired 411 shots and received 22 cannonballs (seven in the hull, four under the

, and 11 in the sails). She had two killed and eight wounded. On 28 December 1864, ''Dupleix'' sailed back to France, where she was decommissioned on 25 June 1865. She was re-commissioned in Cherbourg in 1867, and sent back to serve in the "Far-East Naval Division", under Counter-Admiral Gustave Ohier. She arrived in Yokohama in February 1868, and was immediately involved in the events of the Japanese Revolution.

Sakai incident

On 8 March 1868, a

skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats, usually propelled by sails or oars. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for work, leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-pers ...

sent to

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its '' kofun'', keyhole-shaped burial mounds dating from the fifth century. The ''kofun ...

was attacked by

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

retainers of the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of Tosa; twelve sailors were killed. The captain, Abel-Nicolas Bergasse du Petit-Thouars, protested so strongly that the culprits were arrested, and 20 of them were sentenced to death by

seppuku , also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near ...

. However, the execution style was so shocking to the French that after 11 were carried out, the French captain requested grace for the survivors. This allowed the French and Japanese parties to reconcile, and is now known as the " Sakai incident", or ''Sakai Jiken'' (堺事件). On 16 April 1868, ''Dupleix'' was the first Western ship to salute the Japanese emperor at Fort Tempozan. In October of the same year, ''Dupleix'' was sent to Hokkaidō. She rescued the British corvette , which was shipwrecked at Romanzoff Bay, in

La Pérouse Strait La Pérouse Strait (), or , is a strait dividing the southern part of the Russian island of Sakhalin from the northern part of the Japanese island of Hokkaidō, and connecting the Sea of Japan on the west with the Sea of Okhotsk on the east. ...

Hokkaidō and final years

Relieved by the

aviso An ''aviso'' was originally a kind of dispatch boat or "advice boat", carrying orders before the development of effective remote communication. The term, derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word for "advice", "notice" or "warning", an ...

, ''Dupleix'' was stationed in the northern port of Hakodate during the Battle of Hakodate, in order to guarantee French interests there. She brought back Captain

Jules Brunet Jules Brunet (2 January 1838 – 12 August 1911) was a French military officer who served the Tokugawa shogunate during the Boshin War in Japan. Originally sent to Japan as a horse artillery instructor with the French military mission of 1867, ...

and his companions from Hakodate to Yokohama after the fall of the

Republic of Ezo The was a short-lived separatist state established in 1869 on the island of Ezo, now Hokkaido, by a part of the former military of the Tokugawa shogunate at the end of the ''Bakumatsu'' period in Japan. It was the first government to attempt t ...

. From July 1870 to February 1871, ''Dupleix'' blockaded the German frigate in

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

as part of operations during the

. In March, ''Dupleix'' sailed back to

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

to be decommissioned. From 1876 to 1886, ''Dupleix'' was re-armed every year from March to October to monitor fishery operations in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. She was struck from the French naval list on 2 July 1887 at Cherbourg. The vessel was broken up in 1890.

Notes

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dupleix (1861) Cosmao-class corvettes Ships built in France 1861 ships Boshin War