French ship Génois (1805)

Portrait of Borée, sister-ship of Génois, on 12 April 1807, by Antoine Roux
History
France
Name	Génois
Namesake	Genoa (demonym)
Ordered	8 July 1803[1]
Builder	Muzzio and Migone, Genoa[1]
Launched	16 August 1805.[1]
Commissioned	1 November 1805[1]
Stricken	1821[1]
Fate	Broken up in 1821[1]
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement	2,966 tonnes 5,260 tonnes fully loaded[1]
Length	54 m (177 ft 2 in)[1]
Beam	14.3 m (46 ft 11 in)[1]
Draught	6.7 m (22 ft 0 in)[1]
Propulsion	Up to 2,485 m^2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails[1]
Complement	678 men[1]
Armament	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 24-pounder long guns Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pdr carronades

Génois was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, of the sub-type of Borée and Pluton.

Design and construction

Designed based on plans by Jacques-Noël Sané, and updated by Maillot, she was the prototype of a new variant of the Téméraire class designed to have a smaller draught, allowing the production of ships of the line in the shallower harbours. Borée was built is Antwerp, and Génois in Genoa.[1]

Construction of Génois was awarded to the shipbuilding company Muzzio and Migone, who botched the launch on 6 August 1805: the ship stopped dead on her launching berth, and her keel hogged.[1] Engineer Forfait was sent to Genoa to save the ship, and managed to launch her properly on 16 August.[3]

Career

Génois was commissioned under Captain Lhermite on 2 November 1805.[1][4] She remained in Genoa un 1806,[5] before sailing to Toulon and taking part in the Mediterranean squadron under Vice-Admiral Ganteaume.[6] In early 1808, she sailed from Toulon to Taranto,[7] and took part in expeditions to supply Corfu.[8]

In the spring of 1809, Lhermite was replaced by Captain Montalan,[9] who took command in April, and retain it until Génois was disarmed on 23 June 1814.[10]

In March 1821, under Captain Bénard-Fleury, she ferried food supplies from Toulon to Rochefort.[11]

She was struck and broken up in 1821 in Toulon.[1]

Notes and references

References

1. Roche, p. 223
2. Clouet, Alain (2007). "La marine de Napoléon III : classe Téméraire – caractéristiques". dossiersmarine.free.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 23 March 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
3. Levot, p. 192
4. Fonds Marine, p. 324
5. Fonds Marine, p. 348
6. Fonds Marine, p. 359
7. Fonds Marine, p. 373
8. Levot, p. 315
9. Fonds Marine, p. 398
10. Quintin, p. 286
11. Fonds Marine, p. 542

Bibliography

• Levot, Prosper (1866). Les gloires maritimes de la France: notices biographiques sur les plus célèbres marins (in French). Bertrand.
• Quintin, Danielle; Quintin, Bernard (2003). Dictionnaire des capitaines de Vaisseau de Napoléon (in French). S.P.M. ISBN 2-901952-42-9.
• 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.
• Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations ; divisions et stations navales ; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome deuxième : BB4 1 à 482 (1790-1826) [1]