The ''Virginie'' class was a class of ten 40-gun
frigates
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
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 1793 by
Jacques-Noël Sané
Jacques-Noël Sané (18 February 1740, Brest – 22 August 1831, Paris) was a French naval engineer. He was the conceptor of standardised designs for ships of the line and frigates fielded by the French Navy in the 1780s, which served during the ...
. An eleventh vessel (''Zephyr'') begun in 1794 was never completed.
*
''Virginie''
:Builder: Brest
:Begun: November 1793
:Launched: 26 July 1794
:Completed: December 1794
:Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 22 April 1796, becoming HMS ''Virginie''.
*
''Courageuse''
:Builder: Brest
:Begun: December 1793
:Launched: early August 1794
:Completed: December 1794
:Fate: Renamed ''Justice'' April 1795. Captured by the British Navy in September 1801, but not added to Royal Navy; instead, handed over to the Turkish Navy.
*
''Harmonie''
:Builder: Bordeaux
:Begun: May 1794
:Launched: early 1796
:Completed: May 1796
:Fate: Beached and burnt to avoid capture by the British Navy in April 1797.
*
''Volontaire''
:Builder: Bordeaux
:Begun: September 1794
:Launched: 7 June 1796
:Completed: 1796
:Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 4 March 1806, becoming HMS ''Volontaire''.
*
''Cornélie''
:Builder: Brest
:Begun: March 1794
:Launched: 19 September 1796
:Completed: April 1798
:Fate: Captured by the Spanish Navy in June 1808, becoming Spanish ''Cornelia''.
* ''Zéphyr''
:Builder: Brest
:Begun: March 1794
:Fate: Construction abandoned in April 1804 (never launched).
*
''Didon''
:Builder: Saint Malo
:Begun: September 1796
:Launched: 1 August 1799
:Completed: September 1800
:Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 10 August 1805, becoming HMS ''Didon''.
*
''Atalante''
:Builder: Saint Malo
:Begun: September 1799
:Launched: 29 June 1802
:Completed: July 1802
:Fate: Wrecked in November 1805.
*
''Rhin''
:Builder: Toulon
:Begun: June 1801
:Launched: 15 April 1802
:Completed: October 1802
:Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 27 July 1806, becoming HMS ''Rhin''.
*
''Belle Poule''
:Builder: Basse-Indre
:Begun: June 1801
:Launched: 17 April 1802
:Completed: September 1802
:Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 13 March 1806, becoming HMS ''Belle Poule''.
*
''Surveillante''
:Builder: Basse-Indre
:Begun: July 1801
:Launched: 29 May 1802
:Completed: December 1802
:Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 30 November 1803, becoming HMS ''Surveillante''.
References
*Rif Winfield, ''British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793-1817'', Seaforth Publishing, 2007, .
* {{cite book , first1=Rif, last1=Winfield, first2=Stephen S , last2=Roberts , title=French Warships in the Age of Sail, 1786-1861 , publisher=Seaforth Publishing , year=2015 , isbn=978-1-84832-040-6
Virginie
''Virginie'' was a French-language Canadian television series that aired Monday through Thursday on Radio-Canada (the French-language CBC television network). It debuted in 1996. The show examined the public and private lives of teachers, stud ...
Ship classes of the French Navy