The Nymphe class was a class of four 34/44-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1781 by Pierre-Augustin Lamothe. The prototype (Nymphe) was one of the earliest of the frigates to be armed with 18-pounder long guns. The first two - Nymphe and Thétis - carried 34 guns comprising twenty-six 18-pounders on the upper deck and eight 8-pounders on the quarterdeck and forecastle. The latter two - Cybèle and Concorde - carried an increased armament of 44 guns comprising twenty-eight 18-pounders on the upper deck and twelve 8-pounders plus four 36-pounder obuses on the quarterdeck and forecastle. Thétis was retro-fitted by 1794 to carry the same increased armament as the last two; she was rebuilt at Rochefort from October 1802 to September 1803.
The design followed on at Brest from an earlier class of three smaller frigates (armed with 12-pounder long guns) - named Nymphe (1777), Andromaque (1778) and Astrée (1780) - built at Brest to a different design by Lamothe's father.
Ships in earlier (12-pounder armed) class
These three ships were named on 11 April 1777, 29 September 1777 and 4 December 1778 respectively.
- Nymphe (12-pounder armed frigate)
- Builder: Brest
- Begun: April 1777
- Launched: 18 August 1777
- Completed: November 1777
- Fate: captured by British Royal Navy in 1780 and became HMS Nymphe.
- Builder: Brest
- Begun: August 1777
- Launched: 24 December 1777
- Completed: April 1778
- Fate: Scuttled by fire on 22 August 1796
- Builder: Brest
- Begun: August 1779
- Launched: 16 May 1780
- Completed: July 1780
- Fate: Wrecked in the Atlantic in May 1795
Ships in (18-pounder armed) class
- Nymphe (18-pounder armed frigate)
- Builder: Brest
- Begun: December 1781
- Launched: 30 May 1782
- Completed: August 1782
- Fate: Wrecked at Noirmoutier on 30 December 1793.
- Builder: Brest
- Ordered: 4 November 1786
- Begun: September 1787
- Launched: 16 June 1788
- Completed: October 1788
- Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 10 November 1808 off Lorient. The British took her into service as HMS Brune.
- Builder: Brest
- Begun: June 1788
- Launched: 7 July 1789
- Completed: May 1790
- Fate: Wrecked in action 24 February 1809 off Sables d'Olonne.
- Builder: Brest
- Begun: April 1790
- Launched: 25 October 1791
- Completed: February 1793
- Fate: Captured by the British Navy off Brazil on 4 August 1800.
See also
References
- 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.
- Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714-1792. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.
- Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S (2017). French Warships in the Age of Sail, 1626-1786. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4738-9351-1.
- Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail, 1786-1861. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-040-6.
