French ship Redoutable (1855) explained

Redoubtable was one of five second-rank, 90-gun, steam-powered ships of the line built for the French Navy in the 1850s. The ship participated in the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859 and was scrapped in 1873–1874.

Description

The Algésiras-class ships were repeats of the pioneering ship of the line and were also designed by naval architect Henri Dupuy de Lôme. They had a length at the waterline of 71.23m (233.69feet), a beam of 16.8m (55.1feet) and a depth of hold of 8.16m (26.77feet). The ships displaced 5121t and had a draught of 8.45m (27.72feet) at deep load. Their crew numbered 913 officers and ratings.[1]

The primary difference between Napoléon and the Algésiras class was that the boilers of the latter ships were moved forward of the engines. They were powered by a pair of four-cylinder horizontal-return connecting-rod steam engines that drove the single propeller shaft using steam provided by eight boilers.[1] The engines were rated at 910 nominal horsepower and produced 3602PS. The ships were fitted with three masts and ship rigged.[1]

The armament of the Algésiras-class ships consisted of eighteen 36-pounder smoothbore cannon and sixteen Paixhans guns on the lower gundeck and thirty-four 30-pounder cannon on the upper gundeck. On the quarterdeck and forecastle were twenty Paixhans guns and a pair of 163 mm rifled muzzle-loading guns.[1]

Career

Redoutable took part in the Second Italian War of Independence under Captain Vincent Moulac. In 1860, she served off Beirut with Donawerth.[2]

She was decommissioned in 1865, was hulked in Brest and used as barracks until she was broken up in 1874.

References

Notes and References

  1. Winfield & Roberts, p. 70
  2. Roche, I, p. 373