Nymphe-class frigate
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (February 2013) |
 Capture of the Thétis by HMS Amethyst on 10 November 1808, by Thomas Whitcombe
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Nymphe class |
| Builders | Brest, France |
| Operators | |
| Preceded by | Danaé class |
| Succeeded by | Minerve class |
| Planned | 4 |
| Completed | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Frigate |
| Displacement | 750 tonnes |
| Length | 46.9 m (153 ft 10 in) |
| Beam | 11.9 m (39 ft 1 in) |
| Draught | 5.8 m (19 ft 0 in) |
| Sail plan | Ship-rigged |
| Complement | 297 |
| Armament |
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The Nymphe class was a class of four 34/44-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1781 by Pierre-Augustin Lamothe. The prototype (Nymphe) was one of the earliest of the frigates to be armed with 18-pounder long guns. The first two - Nymphe and Thétis - carried 34 guns comprising twenty-six 18-pounders on the upper deck and eight 8-pounders on the quarterdeck and forecastle. The latter two - Cybèle and Concorde - carried an increased armament of 44 guns comprising twenty-eight 18-pounders on the upper deck and twelve 8-pounders plus four 36-pounder obuses on the quarterdeck and forecastle. Thétis was retro-fitted by 1794 to carry the same increased armament as the last two; she was rebuilt at Rochefort from October 1802 to September 1803.
The design followed on at Brest from an earlier class of three smaller frigates (armed with 12-pounder long guns) - named Nymphe (1777), Andromaque (1778) and Astrée (1780) - built at Brest to a different design by Lamothe's father.
Ships in earlier (12-pounder armed) class
[edit]These three ships were named on 11 April 1777, 29 September 1777 and 4 December 1778 respectively.
- Nymphe (12-pounder armed frigate)
- Builder: Brest
- Begun: April 1777
- Launched: 18 August 1777
- Completed: November 1777
- Fate: captured by British Royal Navy in 1780 and became HMS Nymphe.
- Builder: Brest
- Begun: August 1777
- Launched: 24 December 1777
- Completed: April 1778
- Fate: Scuttled by fire on 22 August 1796
- Builder: Brest
- Begun: August 1779
- Launched: 16 May 1780
- Completed: July 1780
- Fate: Wrecked in the Atlantic in May 1795
Ships in (18-pounder armed) class
[edit]- Nymphe (18-pounder armed frigate)
- Builder: Brest
- Begun: December 1781
- Launched: 30 May 1782
- Completed: August 1782
- Fate: Wrecked at Noirmoutier on 30 December 1793.
- Builder: Brest
- Ordered: 4 November 1786
- Begun: September 1787
- Launched: 16 June 1788
- Completed: October 1788
- Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 10 November 1808 off Lorient. The British took her into service as HMS Brune.
- Builder: Brest
- Begun: June 1788
- Launched: 7 July 1789
- Completed: May 1790
- Fate: Wrecked in action 24 February 1809 off Sables d'Olonne.
- Builder: Brest
- Begun: April 1790
- Launched: 25 October 1791
- Completed: February 1793
- Fate: Captured by the British Navy off Brazil on 4 August 1800.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
- Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714-1792. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.
- Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S (2017). French Warships in the Age of Sail, 1626-1786. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4738-9351-1.
- Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail, 1786-1861. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-040-6.
 French Navy | |
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 Royal Navy |
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