The ''Suffren'' class was a late type of 90-gun

ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which involved the two column ...

of the French Navy. The design was selected on 30 January 1824 by the

Commission de Paris The Commission de Paris was a body of French naval engineers gathered in 1821 to design the future frigates and ships of the line of the French Navy for the post-Empire era. Presided by Jacques-Noël Sané, the Commission comprised Jean-Marguerite ...

, an appointed Commission comprising Jean-Marguerite Tupinier,

Jacques-Noël Sané Jacques-Noël Sané (18 February 1740 – 22 August 1831) was a French shipwright. He was the creator of standardised designs for ship of the line, ships of the line and frigates fielded by the French Navy in the 1780s, which served during the Fr ...

, Pierre Rolland, Pierre Lair and Jean Lamorinière. Intended as successors of the 80-gun ''Bucentaure'' class and as the third of four ranks of ships of the line, they introduced the innovation of having straight walls, instead of the

tumblehome Tumblehome or tumble home is the narrowing of a Hull (watercraft), hull above the waterline, giving less beam (nautical), beam at the level of the main deck. The opposite of tumblehome is flare (ship), flare. A small amount of tumblehome is nor ...

design that had prevailed until then; this tended to heighten the ships' centre of gravity, but provided much more room for equipment in the upper decks. Stability issues were fixed with underwater stabilisers. Only the first two, ''Suffren'' and ''Inflexible'', retained the original design all through their career; the others were converted to steam and sail during their construction.80/90-guns ships-of-the-line

Ships

Fourteen ships were ordered to this design, of which twelve were modified as steam-driven vessels. * ''Suffren'' :Builder:

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 ...

:Begun: August 1824 :Launched: 27 August 1829 :Completed: March 1831 :Fate: Deleted February 1861, renamed ''Ajax'' in April 1865, and taken to pieces 1874-76. * ''Inflexible'' :Builder:

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the G ...

:Begun: August 1827 :Launched: 21 November 1839 :Completed: August 1840 :Fate: Condemned August 1875. * ''Bayard'' :Builder:

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

:Begun: July 1823 :Launched: 28 August 1847 :Completed: August 1849 :Fate: Renamed ''Triton'' in August 1876 * ''Duguesclin'' :Builder:

:Begun: March 1823 :Launched: 3 May 1848 :Completed: August 1848 :Fate: Wrecked 14 December 1859; refloated and taken to pieces in June 1860 * ''Breslaw'' :Builder: Brest :Begun: May 1827 :Launched: 31 July 1848 :Completed: 1849 :Fate: Deleted in May 1871, renamed ''Breslau'' 1881 and taken to pieces 1886-87. * ''Charlemagne'' :Builder:

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 ...

:Begun: April 1834 :Launched: 16 January 1851 :Completed: December 1851 (as steam screw ship) :Fate: Condemned in February 1882. Taken to pieces 1884 * ''Jean Bart'' :Builder: Lorient :Begun: 26 January 1849 :Launched: 14 September 1852 :Completed: April 1853 (as steam screw ship) :Fate: Renamed ''Donawerth'' in August 1868; sold or broken up in 1869 * ''Donawerth'' :Builder: Lorient :Begun: July 1827 :Launched: 15 February 1854 :Completed: July 1854 :Fate: * ''Tilsitt'' :Builder: Cherbourg :Begun: March 1832 as ''Diomède'', renamed 23 November 1839 :Launched: 30 March 1854 :Completed: May 1854 :Fate: * ''Saint Louis'' :Builder: Brest :Begun: July 1848 :Launched: 25 April 1854 :Completed: :Fate: * ''Alexandre'' :Builder: Rochefort :Begun:May 1848 :Launched: 27 March 1857 :Completed: :Fate: * ''Fontenoy'' :Builder: Toulon :Begun: June 1827 :Launched: 2 December 1858 :Completed: :Fate: * ''Masséna'' :Builder: Toulon :Begun: September 1835 :Launched: 15 March 1860 :Completed: :Fate: * ''Castiglione'' :Builder: Toulon :Begun: October 1835 :Launched: 14 July 1860 :Completed: :Fate:

Citations

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suffren Class Ship Of The Line 90-gun ship of the line classes Ship of the line classes from France Ship classes of the French Navy