Sail frigates (3rd class, 46 guns)

PENELOPE (II) class (launched 1840-47)
HELIOPOLIS class (launched 1836-47)


PENELOPE (II) class sail frigates (3rd class, 46)

Displacement:  1695t
Dimensions: 157ft 6in wl, 158ft 7in deck x 40ft 8in mld x 18ft 7in mean
Same, meters: 48.00, 48.33 x 12.40 x 5.67m
Masts: Main 66ft 5in x 3ft 5in; Fore 60ft 8in x 3ft 3in; Mizzen 57ft 5in x 2ft 3in
Armament: (Designed) GD 28-18p; SD 16-30p carr., 2-18p. (Pénélope 1848) GD 24-16cm shell, 4-30p No.2; SD 10-30p carr., 2-16cm shell. (Jeanne d'Arc 1852) GD 22-30p No.3, 2-30p No.1, 2-22cm No.2 shell; SD 14-30p carr., 2-30p No.3
Complement: 327

Name           Builder     Laid down Launched  Commiss.  Fate         
PENELOPE Lorient 26.9.30 25.11.40 20.9.48 Stk. 22.12.64
JEANNE D'ARC Lorient 20.7.35 9.11.47 21.1.52 Stk. 22.12.64

Class. The navy was slow to introduce new classes of 3rd class frigates after the Napoleonic Wars because a number of ships of this type had survived the war and because some people (including some members of Parliament) felt France should concentrate on larger frigates. New plans were completed around 1830 for several classes, including this one by Guillemard. The 1838 revision to the standard armaments of French ships specified an armament of 30pdrs instead of 18pdrs for new 3rd class frigates, but this modification was difficult to implement for the new ships already under construction as it required rearranging the ships' gun ports. In 1839 the navy decided to make the change in Jeanne d'Arc and Héliopolis (below) but not the others, which were too far advanced. Plans for the changes to Héliopolis were approved in 1844.

Disposals. Pénélope became a barracks hulk and was BU 1889. Jeanne d'Arc became the hospital hulk Prudence in 1865, subsequently served at St. Nazaire, and was BU 1898.



HELIOPOLIS class sail frigates (3rd class, 46)

Displacement:  1701
Dimensions: 157ft 6in wl, 160ft 1in deck x 40ft 8in mld x 18ft 6in mean, 19ft 7in max.
Same, meters: 48.00, 48.80 x 12.40 x 5.65, 5.97m
Masts: As Pénélope
Armament: (Erigone and Africaine 1840) GD 24-18p, 4-16cm shell; SD 16-30p carr., 2-18p. (Charte c1843) GD 24-16cm shell, 4-30p No.2; SD 16-30p carr., 2-16cm shell. (Héliopolis c1854) GD 24-30p No.2, 2-22cm No.2 shell; SD 8-16cm shell, 2-30p No.1
Complement: 327

Name           Builder     Laid down Launched  Commiss.  Fate         
ERIGONE St. Servan 26.9.32 27.9.36 1.6.40 Stk. 31.12.64
AFRICAINE St. Servan 1.2.35 9.8.39 26.11.40 Stk. 7.3.67
CHARTE Brest 26.7.33 6.8.42 23.5.43 Stk. 31.12.79
HELIOPOLIS Rochefort 8.30 25.8.47 20.2.54 Stk. 27.2.80

Class. A 3rd class frigate named Oriflamme was scheduled to be begun in 1830 at St. Servan but was suspended 1.7.30 due to lack of a building ways; she was reordered 3.8.31 under the name Erigone. Three other 3rd class frigates, Douze Avril, Dame de Beaujeu, and Bouvines, were scheduled to be begun in 1830 at a new facility at Brest but were postponed 16.11.29 due to delays in building the facility. The first two were renamed Charte and Psyché 9.8.30. Charte was reordered 8.31 and renamed Constitution 29.2.48; the other two were cancelled in 1831. The four ships which finally comprised this class were built on plans by Hubert.

Disposals. Erigone became a storage and guard hulk at Brest and was BU 1879. Africaine became a storage hulk and was BU 1871. Charte was BU 1881. Héliopolis became a powder hulk and was BU 1887.


Five 3rd class frigates were scheduled to be begun in 1835-36: Pomone at Brest, Antigone at Cherbourg, and Nymphe, Thémis, and Psyché at Toulon. Plans drafted by Leroux in 1831 were approved for the first of these, Pomone, on 20.6.35 but all five ships were deferred around 31.10.35 because of doubts in Parliament and elsewhere over the usefulness of 3rd class frigates. Three were cancelled in 1836 and two (Antigone and Psyché) in 1837.