French ship Duguesclin (1848)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Duguesclin.

1/20th scale model of Suffren, lead ship of Duguesclin's class, on display at the Musée national de la Marine
History
France
Name	Duguesclin
Namesake	Bertrand du Guesclin
Builder	Rochefort
Laid down	26 March 1823
Launched	3 May 1848
Stricken	17 December 1859
Fate	Ran aground and lost, scrapped on site
General characteristics
Class & type	Suffren-class ship of the line
Displacement	4,070 tonnes
Length	60.50 m (198 ft 6 in)
Beam	16.28 m (53 ft 5 in)
Draught	7.40 m (24 ft 3 in)
Propulsion	3,114 m2 (33,520 sq ft) of sails
Complement	810 to 846 men
Armament	1824–1839: 30 × 30-pounder long guns on lower deck 32 × 30-pounder short guns on middle deck 24 × 30-pounder carronades and 4 × 18-pounders on upper decks 1839–1840 26 × 30-pounder long guns and 4 × 22 cm Paixhans guns on lower deck 32 × 30-pounder short guns on middle deck 24 × 30-pounder carronades and 4 × 16 cm Paixhans guns on upper decks
Armour	6.97 cm (2.74 in) of timber

Duguesclin was a 90-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was the second ship in French service named in honour of Bertrand du Guesclin.

Career

Duguesclin was first used as barracks for prisoners sent to deportation to Îles du Salut, and then as a transport for those sent to the Bagne of Cayenne. She then took part in the Crimean War in the Black Sea in 1854 and 1855. On 6 July 1854, Duguesclin ran aground on the Warren Rock, off Kronstadt, Russia as the buoy marking it had been removed by the Russians. Her upper and middle deck guns had to be removed before she could be refloated.

On 14 December 1859, as she conducted trials of her newly installed steam engine under Commander Choux, she ran aground on Île Longue. All efforts to raise her proved fruitless and she was scrapped. Her engine was used on Jean Bart.

References

• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. Roche. p. 162. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
• 90-guns ships-of-the-line