The ''Romaine'' class was a class of nine
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
s of the
French Navy, designed in 1794 by
Pierre-Alexandre Forfait.
They were originally designated as "bomb-frigates" (Fr. ''frégate-bombarde'') and were intended to carry a main armament of twenty 24-pounder guns and a 12-inch mortar mounted on a turntable in front of the mizzen mast. Experience quickly led to the mortars being removed (in most vessels they were never fitted), and the 24-pounders were replaced by 18-pounder guns. The ships also featured a
shot furnace
Heated shot or hot shot is round shot that is heated before firing from muzzle-loading cannons, for the purpose of setting fire to enemy warships, buildings, or equipment. The use of heated shot dates back centuries; it was a powerful weapon agains ...
, but they proved impractical, dangerous to the ships themselves, and were later discarded.
La frégate de 24.
, Nicolas MIOQUE, ''Trois Ponts'' A further eleven ships ordered to this design in 1794 were not built, or were completed to altered designs.
Two vessels of the class became breakwaters in less than 15 years after their construction. The British Royal Navy captured three. One was lost at sea. None had long active duty careers. All-in-all, these ships do not appear to have been successful with the initially intended armament, but proved of adequate performance once their heavy mortar was removed and their 24-pounders replaced with 18-pounder long guns.
Vessels in class
* [Roche, p.385]
:Builder: Le Havre
:Begun: March 1794
:Launched: 25 September 1794
:Completed: December 1794
:Fate: Condemned 1804.
* [Roche, p.250]
:Builder: Lorient
:Begun: May 1794
:Launched: 7 January 1795
:Completed: February 1795
:Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 20 October 1798, becoming HMS ''Immortalite''.
* [Roche, p.254]
:Builder: Dieppe
:Begun: March 1794
:Launched: 20 May 1795
:Completed: December 1795
:Fate: Deleted 1815.
* [Roche, p.381]
:Builder: Dieppe
:Begun: March 1794
:Launched: 31 August 1795
:Completed: December 1795
:Fate: Deleted 1818 or 1819.
* [Roche, p.121]
:Builder: Le Havre
:Begun: September 1794
:Launched: 11 March 1796
:Completed: January 1798
:Fate: Converted to a breakwater 1808, taken to pieces 1810.
* [Roche, p.147]
:Builder: Dunkirk
:Begun: February 1794
:Launched: 23 April 1796
:Completed: December 1798
:Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 8 July 1800, becoming HMS ''Desiree''.
* [Roche, p.359]
:Builder: Dunkirk
:Begun: February or April 1794
:Launched: 24 May 1796
:Completed: April 1798
:Fate: Condemned 1805, made a breakwater 1806 or 1807.
Twenty ships of this type were originally included in the shipbuilding programme placed between October 1794 and April 1794, but several appear not to have been begun. Apart from the nine listed above, a tenth vessel, , was begun at Cherbourg
Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...
in March 1795 to the same design but was completed as a vessel of Forfait's earlier . An eleventh, ''Pallas'' (originally named ''Première'') was begun at Saint-Malo in November 1795 to a much modified design; a twelfth, ''Fatalité'' was also ordered in October 1793 at Saint-Malo, but was cancelled in 1796, as was a further vessel, ''Nouvelle'', ordered in 1794 at Lorient. Another vessel, ''Guerrière'', was begun at Cherbourg in 1796 to this design but was also completed to a modified design.
References
Citations
Sources
*
*Alain Demerliac, ''Nomenclature des navires francais de 1792-1799''.
*Rif Winfield, ''British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793-1817'', Seaforth Publishing, 2007, .
*Rif Winfield and Stephen S. Roberts, ''French Warships in the Age of Sail, 1786-1861'', Seaforth Publishing, 2015, .
{{Romaine class frigate
Romaine