French ship Montebello (1812)

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

Montebello circa 1850
History
France
Namesake	Battle of Montebello
Laid down	1810
Launched	1812
Fate	Scrapped in 1889
General characteristics
Class and type	Océan class ship of the line
Displacement	2 700 tonnes
Length	65.18 m (213.8 ft) (196,6 French feet)
Beam	16.24 m (53.3 ft) (50 French feet)
Draught	8.12 m (26.6 ft) (25 French feet)
Propulsion	sail, 3 265 m² 140 shp steam engine (from 1851)
Complement	1 079 men
Armament	Rated as 120-gun: lower deck: 32 36-pounder guns middle deck: 34 24-pounder guns upper deck: 34 18-pounder guns forecastle: 18 8-pounder guns, 6 36-pounder carronades

Montebello was an Océan type 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was launched in 1812 and refitted in 1821.

Career

On 31 October 1836, she was driven ashore at the Grosse Tour, Toulon. She was subsequently refloated.

In 1851, she was refitted to receive a 140 shp (100 kW) steam engine. During trials, performance under sail was poor, probably because of the propeller which increased the drag.

She took part in the Crimean war as admiral Armand Joseph Bruat's flagship, in June 1854. An epidemic of cholera affected 300 sailors aboard, of whom 120 died, including Bruat.

On 5 March 1855 she took part in the Siege of Sevastopol, then in the expedition to Kerch and in the Battle of Kinburn.

In 1860, Montebello replaced Suffren at Toulon as a school-ship for gunnery, and in 1867, she was used as a floating barracks. She was scrapped in 1889.

• 
  Portrait of Montebello, by François Roux

References

• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671–1870. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
• 1812. Le Montebello de Sané (France) Archived 2012-10-22 at the Wayback Machine
• Armement du vaisseau à trois-ponts le Montebello (1834), Nicolas Mioque