Centaure-class ship of the line
| |
| Class overview |
| Name: |
Centaure |
| Builders: |
Toulon |
| Operators: |
 French Navy |
| Succeeded by: |
Téméraire class ship of the line |
| Planned: |
4 |
| Completed: |
4 |
| Lost: |
4 |
| General characteristics |
| Type: | Ship of the line |
| Displacement: | 1530 tonnes |
| Length: | 54.6 m (179 ft) (first pair) |
| Beam: | 14.3 m (47 ft) (first pair) |
| Draught: | 7 m (23 ft) (first pair) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Armament: | 74 guns |
| Armour: | Timber |
| Notes: | Ships in class include: Centaure, Heureux, Séduisant, Mercure |
The Centaure class was a class of 74-gun ships of the line of the French Navy, comprising four ships, all of which built at Toulon Dockyard to a design by Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb in the year following the close of the American Revolutionary War. After the first two ships were begun, the design was amended for the second pair (which were 5¼ feet longer, and also had slightly less breadth and depth in hold) – which are accordingly often described as the Séduisant Class. All four ships were destroyed or captured by the British navy during the French Revolutionary War.
Ships in class
- Builder: Toulon
- Ordered:
- Begun: May 1782
- Launched: 7 November 1782
- Completed: December 1782
- Fate: Burnt by the British Navy during the evacuation of Toulon in December 1793.
- Builder: Toulon
- Ordered: 15 February 1782
- Begun: May 1782
- Launched: 19 December 1782
- Completed: April 1783
- Fate: Burnt by the British after the Battle of the Nile, 2 August 1798.
- Builder: Toulon
- Ordered: 1 June 1782
- Begun: August 1782
- Launched: 5 July 1783
- Completed: 1783
- Fate: Wrecked, 16 December 1796
- Builder: Toulon
- Ordered: 1 June 1782
- Begun: August 1782
- Launched: 4 August 1783
- Completed: 1783
- Fate: Burnt by the British after the Battle of the Nile, 2 August 1798
References
- Demerliac, Cmdt. Alain, Nomenclature des navires français de 1774 a 1792. Editions ANCRE, Nice.