Smaller Gunboats: Photo Gallery
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Gun Launches, Shallow Draft Gunboats, Steam Launches, and Fast Gunboats(Chaloupes-canonnières, Canonnières à faible tirant d’eau, Chaloupes à vapeur, and Bâteaux-canon)
Chaloupes-canonnières, 1859-1868
Class: Canonnière No. 1 (on list 1859)
Canonnière No. 1 class (Chaloupe-canonnière) being assembled at Desenzano on Lake Garda in northern Italy. From an album of 11 photos by Léon Méhédin of the 1859 Italian campaign. (Photo: gallica-btv1b610)
Class: Canonnière No. 1 (1859)
Canonnière No. 1 class (Chaloupe-canonnière) being assembled at Desenzano on Lake Garda in northern Italy. From an album of 11 photos by Léon Méhédin of the 1859 Italian campaign. (Photo: gallica-btv1b611)
Class: Canonnière No. 1 (1859)
Canonnière No. 8 (Chaloupe-canonnière) in service with the Italian Navy between 1861 and 1878 as Torrione. (Photo: NHHC NH 88702)
Class: Canonnière No. 11 (1859)
Canonnière No. 11 (Guêpe) (Chaloupe-canonnière) moored near the Pont d'Iéna at Paris in April 1859. She was designed by Capitaine de vaisseau Augustin Dupouy. (Drawing: L'Illustration, 23 April 1859, p. 261)
Class: Canonnière No. 11 (1859)
Canonnière No. 11 (Guêpe) (Chaloupe-canonnière) moored near the Pont d'Iéna at Paris in April 1859. She had come from Cherbourg where she had been commissioned after being built by Lucien Arman at Bordeaux. (Drawing: Contemporary press, Shipscribe)
Class: Canonnière No. 12 (1860)
Chaloupe-canonnière of the No. 12 or No. 32 class. The No. 32 class was one section (1.55m) longer than the No. 12 class but otherwise similar. Both classes were built for service in Cochinchina. The canvas canopy over the entire hull became a permanent feature of these craft there, even during combat. (Photo: Shipscribe)
Class: Canonnière No. 32 (1863)
Chaloupe-canonnière in the roadstead of the French concession at Hanoi in early 1883 around the time that French operations on the Red River began. The most likely candidates are Carabine (No. 13) and Massue (No. 36) which participated in a bombardment of Hanoi in April 1882. (Drawing: L'Illustration, 28 April 1883, page 260)
Class: Canonnière No. 32 (1863)
Canonnière No. 38 (Sagaie) (Chaloupe-canonnière) at Saigon in 1894 as Bâtiment central de la défense mobile with torpedo boats alongside. Her machinery may have been removed. (Photo: fb250307-yakubov)
Class: Arbalète (1867)
Fronde (chaloupe-canonnière) alongside the sail corvette Cornélie (from 1879) or Constantine. The well-maintained Fronde bears markings indicating she was in use as a flag officer's launch or ferry. She was recommissioned "au matériel" in 1874, reduced to a service craft as Bâtiment d'arrière-garde in 1880, and broken up in 1884. (Photo: Facebook by Andrey Myatishkin on 18.6.2022 and Wikimedia from SHD Rochefort MR_5_G_144)
Class: Arbalète (1867)
Javelot (Chaloupe-canonnière) on the Bidassoa river at Hendaye where she replaced sister Épieu as station ship in 1886. None of this class and only two of the later Baïonette class (1868) served in Indochina. (Photo: Postcard, Hendaye)
Chaloupes-canonnières, 1870-1873
Class: Mitrailleuse (1870)
Revolver (Chaloupe-canonnière) in action as the Canonnière Farcy during the Franco-Prussian War before acquisition by the Navy. Small launches with large guns were advocated by Lieutenant de vaisseau, who designed and built this one. (Drawing: La Guerre Illustrée, 7 September 1870, p. 108)
Class: Mitrailleuse (1870)
Revolver (Chaloupe-canonnière) in action as the Canonnière Farcy during the German siege of Paris in late 1870 before acquisition by the Navy. Note the system for handling shells while loading the gun. (Drawing: L'Univers Illustré, 29 October 1870)