French ship Saint Louis (1854)
1/20th scale model of Suffren, lead ship of Saint Louis's class, on display at the Musée national de la Marine
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| France | |
| Name | Saint Louis |
| Namesake | Louis IX of France |
| Builder | Brest |
| Laid down | 13 July 1848 |
| Launched | 26 April 1853 |
| In service | 8 April 1854 |
| Renamed | From Achille, 2 April 1850 |
| Stricken | 26 November 1894 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 1895 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Donawerth-class ship of the line |
| Displacement | 4,231 t (4,164 long tons) |
| Length | 60.5 m (198 ft 6 in) (gun deck) |
| Beam | 16.28 m (53 ft 5 in) |
| Draught | 8.2 m (26 ft 11 in)= |
| Depth | 8.05 m (26 ft 5 in) |
| Installed power | 1,175 ihp (1,191 PS; 876 kW) |
| Propulsion | 1 × shaft; 1 × Horizontal-return connecting rod-steam engine |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Speed | 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Complement | 814 |
| Armament |
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Saint Louis was a steam-powered, third-rate, 80 gun Donawerth-class ship of the line built for the French Navy during the 1850s. She had been laid down as a Suffren-class sailing ship of the line, but remained on the stocks until she was chosen for conversion to steam power in 1854. The ship played a minor role in the Crimean War of 1854–1855.
Description
Saint Louis had an length of 60.5 metres (198 ft 6 in) at the gun deck a beam of 16.28 metres (53 ft 5 in) and a depth of hold of 8.05 metres (26 ft 5 in). The ship displaced 4,231 tonnes (4,164 long tons) and had a mean draught of 7.4 metres (24 ft 3 in). Her crew numbered 814 officers and ratings. She was powered by a horizontal-return connecting rod-steam engine that drove the single propeller shaft. The engine, built by Mazeline, was rated at 450 nominal horsepower and produced 1,411 indicated horsepower (1,431 PS; 1,052 kW). During her sea trials, Saint Louis had a speed of 9.9 knots (18.3 km/h; 11.4 mph) under steam. She was fitted with three masts and ship rigged like the 80-gun sailing ships of the line in service.[1]
The muzzle-loading, smoothbore armament of Donawerth consisted of sixteen 36-pounder long guns and fourteen 22 cm (8.7 in) Paixhans guns on the lower gun deck. On the upper gundeck were twenty-four 30-pound short guns. On the quarterdeck and forecastle were a total of two 16 cm (6.3 in) rifled guns and eighteen 30-pounder carronades.[1]
Construction and career
Saint Louis had been laid down as a 90-gun 3rd-rank Suffren-class ship of the line on 13 July 1848 at the Arsenal de Brest under the name of Achille, but construction was suspended. The ship was renamed Saint Worth on 2 April 1850. Her incomplete hull was kept in a covered slipway until she was launched on 25 April 1854. The ship was commissioned on 20 May 1854 and completed in June.[2] Saint Louis served as a troopship during the Crimean War.[3] In July 1854, she ran aground at Kiel, Prussia. She was refloated on 26 July.[4]
The ship's conversion into a steam-powered ship was ordered on 19 October 1854, although work did not begin until 25 April 1857 at the Arsenal de Cherbourg. Saint Louis was re-launched on 2 November 1857, recommissioned on 1 April 1858 and completed later that month.[1] She bombed the Tétouan forts on 20 November 1859, and ferried troops in the French intervention in Mexico in 1862–1863. She was renamed Cacique in 1881 and served as a gunnery training ship, and was eventually broken up in 1895.[3]
Citations
References
- Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2
- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. Roche. p. 397. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.