French ship Suffren (1829)

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

The Suffren was a 90-gun Ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was the third ship in French service named in honour of Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez.

1/20th scale model on display at the Musée national de la Marine
History
France
Namesake	Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez
Laid down	21 August 1824
Launched	27 August 1829
Commissioned	10 March 1831
Stricken	4 April 1861
Fate	Scrapped 1874
General characteristics
Class and type	Suffren class ship of the line
Displacement	4 070 tonnes
Length	60.50 m (198.5 ft)
Beam	16.28 m (53.4 ft)
Draught	7.40 m (24.3 ft)
Propulsion	3114 m² of sails
Complement	810 to 846 men
Armament	1824-1839: 30 × 30-pounder long guns on lower deck 32 × 30-pounder short guns on middle deck 24 × 30-pounder carronades and 4 × 18-pounders on upper decks 1839-1840 26 × 30-pounder long guns and 4 × 22cm Paixhans guns on lower deck 32 × 30-pounder short guns on middle deck 24 × 30-pounder carronades and 4 × 16 cm Paixhans guns on upper decks
Armour	6.97 cm of timber

Career

The Suffren was the first ship of the line built with straight sides, after the specifications of the Commission de Paris, instead of the traditional tumblehome common on ships of the line.

She took part in the Battle of Tagus on 11 July 1831, under Captain Trotel, as Albin Roussin's flagship, and stayed off Lisbon for one month thereafter, leaving Portugal on 14 August.

The next year, she took part in the Battle of Ancona, on 22 February, ferrying 1500 infantrymen.

In 1838 she ran aground near Cádiz after a tempest. She was refloated by the steam ships Iéna and Phare.

She took part in the war against Morocco in August 1844, bombing Tangier on the 6 August and landing troops in Mogador on 16.

In 1854, Suffren was involved in the Crimean War. In July, an epidemic of cholera in the fleet in the Black Sea killed 20 and sickened 100 aboard. On 17 October, Suffren took part in the siege of Sevastopol.

The next year, she was converted to a troop ship. From 1857 to 1860, she was used as a gunnery school by the École Navale, before being stricken on 4 April 1861 and converted to a hulk. She was renamed Ajax on 8 April 1865, and scrapped in 1874.

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External links

• 90-guns ships-of-the-line