''Forfait'' was an unarmored

screw corvette Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. There were some exceptions like for exam ...

''Conway′s'', p. 284. built for the French Navy in the late 1850s that entered service in 1860. She saw service in the French intervention in Mexico in the 1860s and was sunk in a collision in 1875.

Construction and commissioning

''Forfait'' had a

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

and screw propulsion that gave her a top speed under steam of 12

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot may also refer to: Places * Knot, Nancowry, a village in India Archaeology * Knot of Isis (tyet), symbol of welfare/life. * Minoan snake goddess figurines#Sacral knot Arts, entertainme ...

,dawlishchronicles.blogspot.com The ramming of the ''Forfait'' by the ''Jeanne d’Arc'', 1875
/ref> as well as a barque rig. She initially was armed with four 152-mm (6-inch) guns, which by the 1870s had been increased to six 152-mm (6-inch) guns. She was unarmored. Launched in 1859, she entered service in 1860. Classified as a "wing scout," she was intended to conduct reconnaissance for the French fleet's larger ships, as well as to undertake independent operations.

Service

Early in her career, ''Forfait'' actively supported the French intervention in Mexico by transporting troops and equipment to Veracruz, Mexico, and landing a shore party to assist in the capture of Tuxpan, Mexico, in 1864. Later in the 1860s she operated in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean and conducted hydrographic surveys off the northwest coast of Borneo. By 1872 she was based at Toulon, France, and operating with the French Navy's Mediterranean Squadron.

Loss

On 21 July 1875, ''Forfait'' was participating in a naval exercise involving six ironclads – the broadside ironclad '' Magenta'', operating as the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

, and five ''Alma''-class central battery ironclads – and a number of smaller ships in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the east coast of

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

. The ironclads were steaming in beautiful weather at 8

in two parallel columns, with ''Magenta'' leading one column, followed by '' Jeanne d′Arc'' and '' Reine Blanche'', and '' Armide'' leading the other, followed by '' Thétis'' and ''

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...

''. Operating as a

dispatch vessel Dispatch boats were small boats, and sometimes large ships, tasked to carry military dispatches from ship to ship or from ship to shore or, in some cases from shore to shore. Dispatch boats were employed when other means of transmitting a message w ...

, ''Forfait'' was steaming outside of the columns. At 12:00 noon the

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

commanding the

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, de ...

ordered ''Forfait'' to pass astern of ''Magenta'' to receive orders. Attempting to place his ship in the column between ''Magenta'' and ''Jeanne d′Arc'', the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of ''Forfait'' misjudged his turn, and ''Jeanne d′Arc'' collided with ''Forfait'', her ram bow tearing into ''Forfait''′s side. ''Forfait'' sank 14 minutes later, her crew of 160 taking safely to her boats. Her commanding officer, Vivielle, remained on the bridge until ''Forfait'' sank beneath him, but floated free, clung to floating wreckage, and was rescued. A

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

acquitted him of blame in the sinking.

Footnotes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forfait Ships built in France 1859 ships Corvettes of the French Navy Second French intervention in Mexico Maritime incidents in July 1875 Ships sunk in collisions Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea