French ship Agamemnon (1812)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Agamemnon and French ship Amphitrite.

Agamemnon was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She served during the later days of the First French Empire, notably taking part in the action of 5 November 1813. During the Bourbon Restoration, she was razéed into a 58-gun frigate and renamed Amphitrite.

Scale model of Achille, sister ship of French ship Agamemnon (1812), on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris.
History
France
Name	Agamemnon
Namesake	Agamemnon
Builder	Genoa, Italy
Laid down	1809
Launched	23 February 1812
Renamed	Amphitrite 1824
Stricken	1836
Fate	Hulked 1836
General characteristics
Class and type	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement	2966 tonnes 5260 tonnes fully loaded
Length	55.87 metres (183 ft 4 in) (172 pied)
Beam	14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in)
Draught	7.26 metres (23 ft 10 in) (22 pied)
Propulsion	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder long guns Forecastle and quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pounder carronades
Armour	Timber

Career

Built in French-occupied Genoa, Agamemnon was commissioned in 1812 and appointed to the Toulon squadron. She took part in the action of 5 November 1813 under Jean-Marie Letellier, and suffered the brunt of the French losses during the engagement, with nine wounded and damage to her masts.^[1]

In June 1822, she transferred to Brest and the next year, she was razéed into a 58-gun frigate. She was recommissioned on 17 April 1824 as Amphitrite. In 1827, she cruised the Mediterranean under Commander Troude, taking part in the blockage of Algiers in October. She notably chased 11 ships from Algiers on 4 October, along with Galathée.^[2]

Agamemnon was decommissioned in July 1829, but reactivated for the Invasion of Algiers.^[2] She was again decommissioned in November 1830,^[2] and hulked in Toulon in 1836.

Citations

1. James. The Naval History of Great Britain. p. 155.
2. Roche. Dictionnaire des bâtiments. p. 24.

References

• James, William (1847). The Naval History of Great Britain: From the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. Vol. 6. London: R. Bentley.
• 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. (1671-1870)
• Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786—1862: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.