Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait (21 April 1752 – 8 November 1807) was a French engineer,
hydrographer and politician, and
Minister of the Navy.
Career
Born to a family of rich merchants, Forfait studied at a
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
college in
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
, where he was awarded prizes in Mathematics and Hydrography upon graduation.
[Lebreton, p.146] In 1773, and in spite being a
Commoner
A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...
,
he was admitted as an assistant member of Rouen Academy and assistant naval engineer, before serving at Brest harbour.
[Levot, p.190]
In 1777, Forfait rose to sub-engineer under
Antoine Groignard. In 1781, he was made an adjunct member of the Naval Academy. In 1783, he embarked on the 110-gun
''Terrible'', part of a Franco-Spanish fleet assembled before Cádiz under Admiral
d'Estaing, but the end of the
American War of Independence occurred before it saw action. Forfait nevertheless helped repair eleven of the ships of the fleet.
[Levot, p.191]
After the
Treaty of Paris, he returned to work at the Naval Academy and notably authored a ''Traité de la mâture''
["Treaty of Rigging"] upon request by
Castries, then
Secretary of State of the Navy. In recognition, he was admitted as a corresponding member in the
Academy of Sciences. He simultaneously developed new techniques to improve the disposition of cargo in ships' holds.
In 1789, he was appointed director of service of
Le Havre
Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
harbour, where he improved the design of
fluyts. He was then sent to England to study the British shipbuilding techniques, and authored the ''Observations sur la marine de d'Angleterre''
["Observations on the Navy of England"] upon his return.
After the outbreak of the
French Revolution, Forfait was elected at the
Legislative Assembly in 1791 as deputy for the
Seine-Inférieure.
His moderate positions earned him the mocking nickname of "''
Juste Milieu''",
["Right Middle"] which he wore with pride. At the end of his mandate in September 1792, he returned to shipbuilding at Le Havre.
Around this time, Forfait designed the 38-gun frigate
''Seine'', which included structural innovations
["''L'acculement du maître-couple, et le transport vers les extrémités des capacités perdues au milieu par cet acculement''"; Levot, p.192] and were designed to carry
24-pounder long guns — more powerful than the usual
18-pounder long guns usually born by ships of this size, although the ''Seine'' was eventually armed with 18-pounders. The
''Seine'' class, built on these plans, came to comprise 7 ships. Forfait furthered his efforts with the
''Romaine'' class in 1794, and was also involved in the design of the
''Etna''-class corvettes.
During the
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...
, he was accused at a political club of Le Havre. He was eventually freed by the
Committee of Public Safety and made general inspector for forests. In 1794, he was tasked to design specialised ships to navigate the
Seine river; he consequently design a lugger, the ''Saumon'', and authored a ''Mémoire sur la navigation de la Seine''.
[Levot, p.192]
In 1797, the
Directory tasked him, along with
Rosily-Mesros and David, to study the possibility of establishing a military harbour in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
; these studies were followed by the construction of an arsenal. He was then sent to the
recently captured Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, where he oversaw the launch of ships under construction in her
arsenal and appropriated by the French in the
Campaign of Italy;
in August 1797, these frigates were launched as
''Muiron'' and
''Carrère''.
Tasked with the naval preparations of the
French campaign in Egypt and Syria, Forfait prepared 15 ships of the line, 14 frigates, 72 lesser warships and 400 transports in
Toulon
Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department.
The Commune of Toulon h ...
,
Genoa,
Ajaccio and
Civitavecchia. He then returned to
Le Havre
Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
, where he designed 3 heavily armed
gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-steam ...
s to repel British
bomb vessels.
After the
Coup of 18 Brumaire, Forfait became
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
's first
Minister of the Navy, an office which he held from November 1799 until his resignation
[Lebreton, p.147] on 1 October 1801, while simultaneously designing ships of the Navy and plans for Boulogne harbour. At the collapse of the
Peace of Amiens and the outbreak of the
War of the Third Coalition in May 1803, Forfait was tasked with improving the
Flottille de Boulogne.
In 1805, Forfait was sent to
Genoa as
Maritime Prefect, tasked to establish a naval presence there. He managed to successfully launch the 74-gun ,
whose originally intended launch had been botched by her constructors, leaving the ship damaged and stuck on her railing.
[Roche, p.223] He nevertheless fell in disfavour after the affair.
Forfait retired in Rouen, where he died on 8 November 1807.
Honours
* Commandeur of the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
* The French Navy
screw corvette ''Forfait'' was named in his honour.
* A large portrait of Forfait is exposed at the Mairie of Rouen.
Works
* ''Traité élémentaire de la mâture des vaisseaux à l’usage des élèves de la marine'', Paris, Clousier, 1788
* ''Observations sur l’établissement des milices bourgeoises et de la milice nationale de l’année'', 1789
*
Opinion de Pierre Forfait sur l’affaire du Ministre de la marine', Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1792
* ''Expériences faites, par ordre du gouvernement sur la navigation de la Seine'', Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1792
* ''Rapport sur la proposition d’armer trente vaisseaux fait au nom des Comités Diplomatique et de Marine'', Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1792
*
Opinion sur le projet d'organisation de l'artillerie de la marine', Paris, Impr. nationale, 1792
* ''Lettres d'un observateur sur la marine, sur son organisation actuelle et sur la guerre continentale et maritime en général'', Paris, Clousier, 1802
* ''Marine et colonies. Exercice de l’an VIII. Compte que rend aux consuls de la République le Cen P.-A.-L. Forfait des dépenses ordonnancées pour le service de son département pendant l’an VIII'', Paris, Impr. de la République, an IX
* ''Solutio problematis ab Regia scientiarum et literarum academia Mantuana propositi ad annum MDCCLXXVI : Eum modum determinare, quo, minimo labore, & minima impensa, navigabiles alvei expediantur ex arenae, & terrae acervis, qui horum fundum altius evehunt'', Mantuae, Typis H.A. Pazzoni, 1777
Sources and references
Notes
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Forfait, Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent
First French Empire
Engineers from Rouen
1752 births
1807 deaths
French marine engineers
Commanders of the Legion of Honour
Members of the Legislative Assembly (France)