A number of ships of the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

have borne the name ''Méduse'', after the

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

. The best-known is arguable the 1810 frigate , of

Théodore Géricault Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (; 26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French Painting, painter and Lithography, lithographer, whose best-known painting is ''The Raft of the Medusa''. Although he died young, he was one of the pi ...

's ''

Raft of the Medusa ''The Raft of the Medusa'' (french: Le Radeau de la Méduse ) – originally titled ''Scène de Naufrage'' (''Shipwreck Scene'') – is an oil painting of 1818–19 by the French Romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault (1791� ...

'' fame.

Ships

* , a 30-gun Roche, p.303 * (1723), a 16-gun corvette * , a 16-gun frigate * , a 40-gun launched in 1782 and burnt by accident in 1797. She was the lead ship of the ''Méduse'' sub-type. * , a frigate. * , a 40-gun frigate launched in 1810 and wrecked in 1816. Her wreck inspired

's ''

''. * , a Roche, vol.2, p.338 * (1916), formerly the Spanish trawler ''Torremolinos'', purchased by the Navy and used as an auxiliary patrol ship. * (1930), a launched in 1930 and wrecked in 1942. * (1964), a support ship for minesweeping frogmen.

Ships

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

Bibliography