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French ship Trajan (1811)

Trajan was a 74-gun built for the French Navy during the first decade of the 19th century. Completed in 1812, she played a minor role in the Napoleonic Wars.

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

Trajan was ordered on 31 August 1807 and laid down in September at Antwerp. The ship was named on 17 October and launched on 15 August 1811. She was commissioned on 21 November and completed in April 1812. Trajan served in Missiessy's squadron before being stationed at Antwerp in March 1814, along with , for the defence of the town. At the Bourbon Restoration in 1814, she returned to Brest, where she was decommissioned. In 1822 she was found to be in need of a refit, and was struck in 1827. Trajan was broken up in 1829.

Citations

References

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