Seine-class frigate

The Seine class was a class of four 42-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1793 by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait. A fifth vessel, Furieuse, was originally ordered at Cherbourg in February 1794 to Forfait's Romaine class design, but was actually completed to the design of the Seine class.

Hull of HMS Revolutionnaire
Class overview
Name:	Seine
Builders:	Le Havre (4); Cherbourg (1)
Operators:	French Navy  Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Minerve class
Succeeded by:	Virginie class
Subclasses:	Valeureuse Class
Planned:	6
Completed:	7
General characteristics
Type:	frigate
Displacement:	700 tonnes
Length:	146 ft 4 in
Beam:	37ft 2 in
Depth of hold:	18 ft
Armament:	42 guns:
Armour:	Timber
Notes:	Ships in class include: Seine, Révolutionnaire, Spartiate (in 1795 renamed Pensée), Indienne, Valeureuse, Infatigable, Furieuse.

The ship builder Charles-Henri Le Tellier produced a further two vessels, the Valeureuse-class, which were about 8 inches longer than earlier Seine-class vessels.[1]

The vessels were originally designed to carry a main armament of 24-pounder guns, but in the event all were completed at Le Havre with 18-pounders.

Seine-class

• Seine

Builder: Le Havre

Begun: May 1793

Launched: 19 December 1793

Completed: March 1794

Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy on 30 June 1798, becoming HMS Seine.

• Révolutionnaire

Builder: Le Havre

Begun: October 1793

Launched: 28 May 1794

Completed: July 1794

Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy on 21 October 1794, becoming HMS Revolutionnaire.

• Spartiate

Builder: Le Havre

Begun: May 1794

Launched: late November 1794

Completed: December 1794

Fate: Renamed La Pensée May 1795. Converted to a breakwater in November 1804, deleted 1832.

• Indienne

Builder: Le Havre

Begun: December 1794

Launched: 2 September 1796

Completed: October 1797

Fate: Burnt to avoid capture by the Royal Navy in April 1809.

• Furieuse

Builder: Cherbourg

Begun: March 1795

Launched: 22 September 1796

Completed: May 1798

Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy on 6 July 1809, becoming HMS Furieuse.

Valeureuse-class

• Valeureuse[1]

Builder: Le Havre

Begun: July 1797

Launched: 29 July 1798

Completed: March 1800

Fate: Sold in September 1806 at Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania for breaking up following condemnation as irreparable at Philadelphia.

• Infatigable[1]

Builder: Le Havre

Begun: July 1797

Launched: 6 April 1799

Completed: March 1800

Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy on 24 September 1806, becoming HMS Immortalité; never commissioned and sold in January 1811 at Plymouth for breaking up.

Citations and references

Citations

1. Winfield and Roberts (2015), p.142.

References

• Demerliac, Alain (2004). La Marine de la Révolution: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1792 A 1799 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 2-906381-24-1.
• Demerliac, Alain (2004). La Marine du Consulat et du Premier Empire: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1800 A 1815 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 2-903179-30-1.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.
• Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S. (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.