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 depended on the two colu ...

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 Jean Marguerite Tupinier (18 December 1779 – 2 December 1850) was a French naval engineer and politician. In 1839 he was briefly Minister of Navy and Colonies. Early years Jean Marguerite Tupinier was born in Cuisery, Saône-et-Loire, on 18 Dec ...

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

, 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 is a term describing a hull which grows narrower above the waterline than its beam. The opposite of tumblehome is flare. A small amount of tumblehome is normal in many naval architecture designs in order to allow any small projectio ...

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 (; , , ), 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 ...

: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 Ga ...

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

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

: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 Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus ** Brest Region ** Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest ** Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Bre ...

: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 (, , ; oc, label=Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is the ...

: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:

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