The ''Nymphe'' class was a class of four 34/44-gun
frigates 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 ...
, designed in 1781 by
Pierre-Augustin Lamothe. The prototype () was one of the earliest of the frigates to be armed with
18-pounder long gun
The 18-pounder long gun was an intermediary calibre piece of naval artillery mounted on warships of the Age of Sail. They were used as main guns on the most typical frigates of the early 19th century, on the second deck of third-rate ships of the ...
s. The first two - and - carried 34 guns comprising twenty-six 18-pounders on the upper deck and eight 8-pounders on the quarterdeck and forecastle. The latter two - and - carried an increased armament of 44 guns comprising twenty-eight 18-pounders on the upper deck and twelve 8-pounders plus four 36-pounder
obus
The Obus (French for " cannon shell") was a French automobile manufactured from 1907 until 1908. A voiturette, it was produced by A. Souriau of Montoire
Montoire-sur-le-Loir (, literally ''Montoire on the Loir''), commonly known as Montoire, is ...
es on the quarterdeck and forecastle. ''Thétis'' was retro-fitted by 1794 to carry the same increased armament as the last two; she was rebuilt at
Rochefort
Rochefort () may refer to:
Places France
* Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department
** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard
* Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department
* Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...
from October 1802 to September 1803.
The design followed on at Brest from an earlier class of three smaller frigates (armed with
12-pounder long gun
The 12-pounder long gun was an intermediary calibre piece of artillery mounted on warships of the Age of sail. They were used as main guns on the most typical frigates of the early 18th century, on the second deck of fourth-rate ships of the line, ...
s) - named ' (1777), ' (1778) and ' (1780) - built at Brest to a different design by Lamothe's father.
Ships in earlier (12-pounder armed) class
These three ships were named on 11 April 1777, 29 September 1777 and 4 December 1778 respectively.
* (12-pounder armed frigate)
:Builder: Brest
:Begun: April 1777
:Launched: 18 August 1777
:Completed: November 1777
:Fate: captured by British Royal Navy in 1780 and became .
*
:Builder: Brest
:Begun: August 1777
:Launched: 24 December 1777
:Completed: April 1778
:Fate: Scuttled by fire on 22 August 1796
*
:Builder: Brest
:Begun: August 1779
:Launched: 16 May 1780
:Completed: July 1780
:Fate: Wrecked in the Atlantic in May 1795
Ships in (18-pounder armed) class
* (18-pounder armed frigate)
:Builder: Brest
:Begun: December 1781
:Launched: 30 May 1782
:Completed: August 1782
:Fate: Wrecked at
Noirmoutier on 30 December 1793.
*
:Builder: Brest
:Ordered: 4 November 1786
:Begun: September 1787
:Launched: 16 June 1788
:Completed: October 1788
:Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 10 November 1808 off
Lorient. The British took her into service as .
*
:Builder: Brest
:Begun: June 1788
:Launched: 7 July 1789
:Completed: May 1790
:Fate: Wrecked in action 24 February 1809 off Sables d'Olonne.
*
:Builder: Brest
:Begun: April 1790
:Launched: 25 October 1791
:Completed: February 1793
:Fate: Captured by the British Navy off Brazil on 4 August 1800.
See also
*
List of sail frigates of France
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nymphe class frigate
Frigate classes
Ship classes of the French Navy