The Iphigénie class was a group of nine 32-gun/12-pounder frigates of the French Navy, built during the late 1770s at Lorient (2 ships) and Saint Malo (7 ships). They were designed by Léon Guignace. The seven built at Saint Malo were initially numbered Nos. 1 – 7 respectively, and not given names until October 1777 (for Nos 1 – 4) and the start of 1778 (Nos. 5 – 7); all seven were captured by the British Navy between 1779 and the end of 1800. Of the two built at Lorient, the Spanish captured one, and a storm wrecked the other.
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Iphigénie |
| Builders | Lorient and Saint Malo |
| Operators | |
| Completed | 9 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type | frigate |
| Tonnage | 1,100 tons (French) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 11.21 m (36 ft 9 in) |
| Depth of hold | 5.68 m (18 ft 8 in) |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Armament | |
| Armour | Timber |
- Builder: Gilles Cambry at Lorient Dockyard
- Ordered:
- Laid down: February 1777
- Launched: 16 October 1777
- Completed: March 1778
- Fate: Captured by the Spanish in February 1795, becoming Spanish Ifigenia.
- Builder: Gilles Cambry at Lorient Dockyard
- Ordered:
- Laid down: August 1777
- Launched: 26 March 1778
- Completed: May 1778
- Fate: Wrecked in a storm in Bantry Bay, January 1797
- Builder: Saint Malo Dockyard
- Ordered:
- Laid down: July 1777
- Launched: 16 March 1778
- Completed: April 1778
- Fate: Captured by the British 14 October 1798, becoming HMS Resolue.
- Builder: Saint Malo Dockyard
- Ordered:
- Laid down: July 1777
- Launched: 18 June 1778
- Completed: August 1778
- Fate: Captured by the British 11 April 1795, becoming HMS Gentille.
- Builder: Saint Malo Dockyard
- Ordered:
- Laid down: August 1777
- Launched: 11 May 1778
- Completed: July 1778
- Fate: Captured by the British 29 July 1782, but retaken by a French squadron the following day; wrecked off the Penmarch Islands January 1797.
- Builder: Saint Malo Dockyard
- Ordered:
- Laid down: August 1777
- Launched: late March 1778
- Completed: July 1778
- Fate: Captured by the British 2 June 1779, becoming HMS Prudente.
- Builder: Saint Malo Dockyard
- Ordered:
- Laid down: January 1778
- Launched: 9 July 1778
- Completed: October 1778
- Fate: Captured by the British 10 April 1795, becoming HMS Gloire.
- Builder: Saint Malo Dockyard
- Ordered:
- Laid down: January 1778
- Launched: 2 August 1778
- Completed: February 1779
- Fate: Captured by the British 12 October 1798, becoming HMS Proserpine.
- Builder: Saint Malo Dockyard
- Ordered:
- Laid down: January 1778
- Launched: 23 September 1778
- Completed: February 1779
- Fate: Captured by the British 5 August 1800, becoming HMS Medee.
Notes edit
Citations edit
- ^ Winfield and Roberts (2015), pp. 124–5.
- ^ Roche (2005), p. 259.
- ^ Demerliac (1996), p. 62, n°373.
- ^ Roche (2005), p. 427.
- ^ Roche (2005), p. 380.
- ^ Roche (2005), p. 223.
- ^ Roche (2005), p. 37.
- ^ Roche (2005), p. 367.
- ^ Roche (2005), p. 226.
- ^ Roche (2005), p. 71.
- ^ Roche (2005), p. 303.
References edit
- Demerliac, Alain (1996). La Marine de Louis XVI: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1774 à 1792 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 9782906381230. OCLC 468324725.
- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922. (1671-1870)
- Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786—1862: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.