French ship Impérial (1811)

The Impérial was a first-rate 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, of the Océan type, designed by Jacques-Noël Sané and built by François Poncet.

1/48 scale model of the Océan class 120-gun ship of the line Commerce de Marseille, sister-ship of the Impérial. On display at Marseille naval museum.
History
French Navy Ensign French Navy EnsignFrance
BuilderFrançois Poncet, Toulon Dyd
Laid downJuly 1810
Launched1 December 1811
CompletedAugust 1812
FateBroken up 1825
General characteristics
Class and typeOcéan class ship of the line
Displacement2 700 tonnes
Length65.18 m (213.8 ft) (196,6 French feet)
Beam16.24 m (53.3 ft) (50 French feet)
Draught8.12 m (26.6 ft) (25 French feet)
Propulsionsail, 3 265 m²
Complement1 079 men
Armament
  • Lower deck: 32 36-pounder guns
  • middle deck: 34 24-pounder guns
  • upper deck: 34 12-pounder guns
  • forecastle: 18 8-pounder guns, 6 36-pounder carronades
ArmourTimber

She was begun at Toulon in 1810 and completed in 1812. She was the French flagship during the action of 5 November 1813.

She was renamed Royal Louis in April 1814 following the downfall of the First Empire, but resumed the name Impérial in March 1815 when Napoléon returned to France. After the Hundred Days and the restitution of Louis XVIII, she was again renamed Royal Louis in July 1815, being disarmed in June 1816. She was condemned in March 1825 and broken up later that year.

References

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  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671–1870. p. 251. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.