Surveillante-class frigate

The Surveillante class was a type of sixty-gun frigate of the French Navy, designed in 1823 by Mathurin-François Boucher.^[1]

Model showing characteristics and original painting scheme of Belle Poule.
Class overview
Name	Surveillante
Builders	Arsenal de Lorient, Lorient, France Arsenal de Cherbourg, Cherbourg, France
Operators	French Navy
Preceded by	Romaine class
Succeeded by	Iphigénie Terpsichore Dryade class
Completed	9
General characteristics
Class & type	Surveillante-class frigate
Displacement	2500 tonnes
Length	54 metres (177 ft)
Beam	14.10 metres (46.3 ft)
Draught	3.80 metres (12.5 ft)
Propulsion	sail
Complement	301
Armament	60 guns 32 × 30-pounder long guns 4 × 80-pounder Paixhans guns 24 × 30-pounder carronades
Armour	Timber

One of the main innovations with respect to previous design was the disappearance of the gangways, which provided a flush deck capable of harbouring a complete second battery. With the standardisation on the 30-pounder calibre for all naval ordnance that occurred in the 1820s, this design allowed for a frigate throwing a 900-pound broadside, thrice the firepower of the 40-gun Pallas class that constituted the majority of the frigate forces during the Empire, and comparable to that of a 74-gun.

By far the best-known ship of the class is Belle Poule, which achieved fame when she transported the ashes of Napoléon back to France in the so-called Retour des cendres; for this occasion, she was painted all black, a colour scheme that she retained later in her career, but which is uncharacteristic of the ships of this type.

• Surveillante^[2]

Builder: Arsenal de Lorient

Begun:

Launched: 29 September 1825

Completed:

Fate: deleted 22 August 1844.

• Belle Gabrielle^[3]

Builder: Arsenal de Cherbourg

Begun:

Launched: 28 June 1828

Completed:

Fate: renamed Indépendante 9 August 1830, deleted 24 October 1860.

• Melpomène^[4]

Builder: Arsenal de Cherbourg

Begun:

Launched: 28 July 1828

Completed:

Fate: deleted 20 March 1845.

• Herminie^[5]

Builder: Arsenal de Lorient

Begun:

Launched: 25 August 1828

Completed:

Fate: wrecked off Bermuda 3 December 1838.

• Belle Poule^[6]

Builder: Arsenal de Cherbourg

Begun:

Launched: 26 March 1834

Completed:

Fate: deleted 19 March 1861.

• Sémillante^[7]

Builder: Arsenal de Lorient

Begun:

Launched: 6 February 1841

Completed:

Fate: wrecked 16 February 1855 off Bonifacio.

• Andromaque^[8]

Builder: Arsenal de Lorient

Begun:

Launched: 8 March 1841

Completed:

Fate: deleted 17 August 1869.

• Forte^[9]

Builder: Arsenal de Cherbourg

Begun:

Launched: 16 September 1841

Completed:

Fate: deleted 23 October 1883.

• Pallas^[10]

Builder: Arsenal de Lorient

Begun:

Launched: 15 August 1860

Completed:

Fate: hulked 23 October 1883