Tonnant-class ship of the line

The Tonnant class was a series of eight 80-gun ships of the line designed in 1787 by Jacques-Noël Sané, whose plans for the prototype were approved on 29 September 1787. With sixteen gunports on the lower deck on each side (although only fifteen of these ports on each side were routinely provided with 36-livre guns) these were the most effective two-deckers of their era. Their broadside of 1,102 livres equated to 1,190 British pounds weight, over 50% more than the standard British 74-gun ship, and even greater than that of a British 100-gun three-decker.

A Tonnant-class ship of the line, HMS Canopus, the former Franklin
Class overview
Name:	Tonnant
Builders:	Toulon, Brest and Rochefort
Operators:	French Navy  Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Saint-Esprit class
Succeeded by:	Bucentaure class
In commission:	1790–1834
Planned:	11
Completed:	8
Cancelled:	3
Lost:	7
Retired:	1
General characteristics
Type:	Ship of the line
Displacement:	1,800 tonnes
Length:	59.28 m (194.5 ft)
Beam:	15.27 m (50.1 ft)
Draught:	7.80 m (25.6 ft)
Depth of hold:	7.64 m (25.1 ft)
Propulsion:	Sail
Complement:	854 in wartime (866 by 1802)
Armament:	80 guns 30 36-livres (= 38.875 lbs) 32 24-livres (= 26.92 lbs) 18 12-livres (= 12.96 lbs 4 36-livre howitzers
Armour:	Timber
Notes:	Ships in class include: Tonnant, Indomptable, Sans Pareil, Indivisible, Foudroyant, Formidable, Guillaume Tell, Franklin.

Five ships were ordered from 1787 to 1793, and all were completed during the 1790s; six more were ordered in January 1794 to be built to this design at Toulon, but only three of these were named and laid down. All but one of the eight ships were to be captured or destroyed by the British Navy, and four of these were to enjoy long careers in their new service. The prizes were highly regarded by British sea officers, but they proved costly and time-consuming to maintain.

From 1802 a new group (the Bucentaure class) of French 80-gun ships was begun of slightly modified design, of which more than 24 were begun.

Tonnant class (8 ships)

The design dimensions of these ships (in French pieds of 324.84mm) were 182.5 overall length, 167 keel length x 47.0 breadth x 23.5 depth in hold (see General Characteristics box for metric equivalents and those in UK/US units).

• Tonnant

Builder: Toulon

Begun: December 1787

Launched: 24 October 1789

Completed: September 1790

Fate: Captured 2 August 1798 in the Battle of the Nile, added to Royal Navy as HMS Tonnant, broken up 1821

• Indomptable

Builder: Brest

Begun: September 1788

Launched: 20 December 1790

Completed: April 1793

Fate: Wrecked off Rota 22 October 1805 after the Battle of Trafalgar

• Sans Pareil

Builder: Brest

Begun: October 1790

Launched: 8 June 1793

Completed: September 1793

Fate: Captured 1 June 1794 by the Royal Navy during Fourth Battle of Ushant, broken up October 1842

• Indivisible

Builder: Brest

Begun: May 1793

Launched: 8 July 1799

Completed: October 1799

Fate: Renamed Alexandre 5 February 1802, captured by Britain 6 February 1805, hulked 1808 and sold to be broken up May 1822

• Foudroyant

Builder: Rochefort

Ordered: December 1793

Launched: 18 May 1799

Completed: August 1800

Fate: Struck 26 October 1833 and broken up 1834

• Formidable

Builder: Toulon

Begun: August 1794

Launched: 17 March 1795

Completed: October 1795

Fate: Captured 3 November 1805 during Battle of Cape Ortegal, renamed HMS Brave, broken up April 1816

• Guillaume Tell

Builder: Toulon

Begun: September 1794

Launched: 21 October 1795

Completed: July 1796

Fate: Captured 31 March 1800 off Malta, renamed HMS Malta, broken up August 1840

• Franklin

Builder: Toulon

Begun: November 1794

Launched: 25 June 1797

Completed: March 1798

Fate: Captured 2 August 1798 in the Battle of the Nile, renamed HMS Canopus, broken up October 1887

References

• Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2017) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626–1786: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.. Naval Institute Press, 2017. ISBN 978-1-4738-9351-1.
• Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.