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French ship Scipion (1813)

Scipion was a 74-gun built for the French Navy during the 1810s. Completed in 1814, she participated in the Battle of Navarino in 1827.

Description

Designed by Jacques-Noël Sané, the Téméraire-class ships had a length of , a beam of and a depth of hold of . The ships displaced 3,069 tonneaux and had a mean draught of . They had a tonnage of 1,537 port tonneaux. Their crew numbered 705 officers and ratings during wartime. They were fitted with three masts and ship rigged.

The muzzle-loading, smoothbore armament of the Téméraire class consisted of twenty-eight 36-pounder long guns on the lower gun deck and thirty 18-pounder long guns on the upper gun deck. After about 1807, the armament on the quarterdeck and forecastle varied widely between ships with differing numbers of 8-pounder long guns and 36-pounder carronades. The total number of guns varied between sixteen and twenty-eight. The 36-pounder obusiers formerly mounted on the poop deck () in older ships were removed as obsolete.

Construction and career

Scipion was ordered on 28 February 1812 and was laid down that same month in French-occupied Genoa, Italy. The ship was launched on 5 September 1813. The ship was commissioned on 19 December and completed in February 1814. On 30 September 1827, Scipion collided with Provence, which sustained serious damage and had to return to Toulon for repairs. On 20 October 1827, she took part in the Battle of Navarino, under Pierre Bernard Milius, sailing behind the Sirène in the line. At the outbreak of the battle, Scipion narrowly escaped destruction by a fireship which became jammed under her bowsprit; her fore sails caught fire and the fire spread into the upper gun-deck, but was eventually put out by the crew. succeeded in attaching a tow-line to the fireship and, with the assistance of and two other British boats, pulling it clear. Sirène, Trident and Scipion then proceeded to silence the batteries of the fort of Navarino. She was struck on 20 February 1846.

Citations

Bibliography

  • Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing.