French ship Fleurus (1853)

Fleurus was a late 100-gun Hercule-class ship of the line of the French Navy, transformed into a sail and steam ship.

1/40th-scale model of the 100-gun Hercule, lead ship of Fleurus ' class, on display at the Musée national de la Marine.
History
France
Name	Fleurus
Namesake	Battle of Ligny, also known as Battle of Fleurus
Builder	Toulon
Laid down	April 1825
Launched	2 December 1853
In service	1855
Stricken	17 August 1869
Fate	Scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type	Hercule class
Displacement	4440 tonnes
Length	62.50
Beam	16.20
Draught	8.23
Sail plan	3150 m2 of sails
Complement	955 men
Armament	100 guns, including: 32 × 30-pounder long guns (lower deck) 30 × 30-pounder short guns (upper deck) 30 30-pounder carronades (open deck) 4 × 18-pounder long guns (open deck)
Armour	timber

Service history

Ordered in 1825 as Brianée and soon renamed Dauphin Royal, Fleurus was laid down in 1825 but not completed before 1855. She took her definitive name after the July Revolution, on 9 August 1830.

From January 1855, she conducted her engine trials. She proceeded to the Black Sea to take part in the Crimean War. In 1862, she served as a troopship for the French intervention in Mexico.

She finished her career as a hulk in Saigon, headquarters to the French naval division of Indochina.

References

• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. p. 266. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
• 100-guns ships of the line