The ''Surveillante'' class was a type of sixty-gun

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

of 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 ...

, designed in 1823 by

Mathurin-François Boucher Mathurin François Boucher (Nantes, 22 November 1778 – Marseille, 31 March 1851) was a French naval engineer. He is notable for his adaptation of the technique of ship camel to large 74-guns, and for designing the ''Surveillante'' class of 60-g ...

.Maquette de bateau, Belle Poule, frégate de 1er rang, 1834

Musée national de la Marine The Musée national de la Marine (; "National Navy Museum") is a maritime museum located in the Palais de Chaillot, Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. It has annexes at Brest, Port-Louis, Rochefort ( Musée National de la Ma ...

One of the main innovations with respect to previous design was the disappearance of the gangways, which provided a

flush deck In naval architecture, a flush deck is a Deck (ship), ship deck that is continuous from stem to stern. History Flush decks have been in use since the times of the ancient Egyptians. Greco-Roman Trireme often had a flush deck but may have also ha ...

capable of harbouring a complete second battery. With the standardisation on the 30-pounder calibre for all naval ordnance that occurred in the 1820s, this design allowed for a frigate throwing a 900-pound broadside, thrice the firepower of the 40-gun that constituted the majority of the frigate forces during the Empire, and comparable to that of a

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently de ...

. By far the best-known ship of the class is , which achieved fame when she transported the ashes of

Napoléon 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 a series of mi ...

back to France in the so-called ''

Retour des cendres The ''retour des cendres'' (literally "return of the ashes", though "ashes" is used here as a metaphor for his mortal remains, as he was not cremated) was the return of the mortal remains of Napoleon I of France from the island of Saint Helena to ...

''; for this occasion, she was painted all black, a colour scheme that she retained later in her career, but which is uncharacteristic of the ships of this type. *Roche, p. 428 :Builder:

Arsenal de Lorient Naval Group is a major French industrial Corporate group, group specializing in navy, naval defense industry, defense design, development and shipbuilding, construction. Its headquarters are located in Paris. Heir to the French naval dockyards ...

:Begun: :Launched: 29 September 1825 :Completed: :Fate: deleted 22 August 1844. *Roche, p. 69 :Builder:

Arsenal de Cherbourg Cherbourg Naval Base is a naval base in Cherbourg Harbour, Cherbourg, Manche Departments of France, department, Normandy. The town has been a base of the French Navy since the opening of the military port in 1813. History Early works Cherbourg ha ...

:Begun: :Launched: 28 June 1828 :Completed: :Fate: renamed ''Indépendante'' 9 August 1830, deleted 24 October 1860. *Roche, p. 304 :Builder: Arsenal de Cherbourg :Begun: :Launched: 28 July 1828 :Completed: :Fate: deleted 20 March 1845. *Roche, p. 241 :Builder: Arsenal de Lorient :Begun: :Launched: 25 August 1828 :Completed: :Fate: wrecked off Bermuda 3 December 1838. *Roche, p. 70 :Builder: Arsenal de Cherbourg :Begun: :Launched: 26 March 1834 :Completed: :Fate: deleted 19 March 1861. *Roche, p. 410 :Builder: Arsenal de Lorient :Begun: :Launched: 6 February 1841 :Completed: :Fate: wrecked 16 February 1855 off Bonifacio. *Roche, p. 41 :Builder: Arsenal de Lorient :Begun: :Launched: 8 March 1841 :Completed: :Fate: deleted 17 August 1869. *Roche, p. 208 :Builder: Arsenal de Cherbourg :Begun: :Launched: 16 September 1841 :Completed: :Fate: deleted 23 October 1883. *Roche, p. 339 :Builder: Arsenal de Lorient :Begun: :Launched: 15 August 1860 :Completed: :Fate: hulked 23 October 1883

Sources and references

References

Sources

* {{Surveillante class frigate Surveillante Ship classes of the French Navy