The Henri IV was a 100-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, named after Henry IV of France. She was launched in 1848. Her shipwreck in a storm off Sebastopol in 1854 marked the beginnings of French meteorology.

History

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Admiral De Gueydon, captain of the Henri IV.
 
Henri IV at the bombardment of Salé.

Henri IV was the last warship launched under Louis Philippe I and also saw service under the French Second Republic and Second French Empire. She was commanded by Louis Henri de Gueydon from 1850 to 1852[1] and took part in the bombardment of Salé on 26 November 1851, suffering major damage and losing her main mast.[2]

 
Shipwreck of the Henri IV.

She also fought in the Crimean War, including the Siege of Sevastopol. A major hurricane took the Allied fleet by surprise off the coast of Eupatoria on 14 November 1854, sinking the Henri IV and the corvette Pluton.[3] They were two of 38 French, Ottoman and British ships lost in November 1854. The sinking of the Henri IV proved a spur to French meteorological research.[4][5]

Bibliography

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  • Frédéric Zurcher and Élie-Philippe Margollé, Les Naufrages célèbres, Paris : Hachette, 1873 - 3rd edition, 1877, chap.19, pp. 184–195 [1]

References

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  1. ^ Life of Louis Henri de Gueydon Archived 2014-04-30 at the Wayback Machine, sur www.ceuxdebougie.com
  2. ^ Mohamed Ben Ali Doukkali, l'Histoire des Deux Rives [« Al-Ithaf Al Wajiz, Tarikh Al-Adwatayn »], Editions Maârif de Rabat, diffusion de la bibliothèque Sbihi, 1996 (2nd edition), 400 p., p. 337
  3. ^ Élie Margollé, Les naufrages célèbres, Editions Ancre de Marine, 1872, 308 p. Read online (French)
  4. ^ Bulletin de Météorologie et transports maritimes, on www.wmo.int (Illustration of the wreck of the Henri IV)
  5. ^ PDF Report by commandant Jehenne on the wreck of the Henri IV Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
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