Algésiras-class ship of the lineW
Algésiras-class ship of the line

The Algésiras class consisted of five second-rank, 90-gun, steam-powered ships of the line built for the French Navy in the 1850s. Most of the ships participated in the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859 or the Second French intervention in Mexico in the 1860s. Beginning in the mid-1860s, they were decommissioned or converted into troopships before being scrapped beginning in the early 1870s.

Artésien-class ship of the lineW
Artésien-class ship of the line

The Artésien class was a type of 64-gun ships of the line of the French Navy. A highly detailed and accurate model of Artésien, lead ship of the class, was part of the Trianon model collection and is now on display at Paris naval museum.

Bordelois-class ship of the lineW
Bordelois-class ship of the line

The Bordelois class was a class of 56-gun ships of the line, designed by Antoine Groignard. This was a unique type, designed to provide a battlefleet armament on a hull able to operate in the shallow waters around Dunkirk. The ships were funded by don des vaisseaux donations and rushed into production for the Seven Years' War, but were completed too late to take part in the conflict. The Flamand would later have a distinguished career during the War of American Independence.

Bucentaure-class ship of the lineW
Bucentaure-class ship of the line

The Bucentaure class was a class of 80-gun French ships of the line built to a design by Jacques-Noël Sané from 1802 onwards, of which at least 29 were ordered but only 21 ships were launched. They were a development from his earlier Tonnant class.

Commerce de Paris-class ship of the lineW
Commerce de Paris-class ship of the line

The Commerce de Paris class were a series of ships of the line of the French Navy, designed in 1804 by Jacques-Noël Sané as a shortened version of his 118-gun Océan-class three-deckers, achieved by removing a pair of guns from each deck so that they became 110-gun ships. Two ships were built to this design in France. Four more were begun at Antwerp in 1810–1811, but these were never completed and were broken up on the ways; three more were ordered in Holland, but these were never laid down.

Hercule-class ship of the lineW
Hercule-class ship of the line

The Hercule class was a late type of 100-gun ships of the line of the French Navy. They were the second strongest of four ranks of ships of the line designed by the Commission de Paris. While the first units were classical straight-walled ships of the line, next ones were gradually converted to steam, and the last one was built with an engine.

Napoléon-class ship of the lineW
Napoléon-class ship of the line

The Napoléon class was a late type of 90-gun ships of the line of the French Navy, and the first type of ship of the line designed from the start to incorporate a steam engine.

Océan-class ship of the lineW
Océan-class ship of the line

The Océan-class ships of the line were a series of 118-gun three-decker ships of the line of the French Navy, designed by engineer Jacques-Noël Sané. Fifteen were completed from 1788 on, with the last one entering service in 1854; a sixteenth was never completed, and four more were never laid down.

Pégase-class ship of the lineW
Pégase-class ship of the line

The Pégase class was a class of 74-gun ships of the French Navy, built to a common design by naval constructor Antoine Groignard. It comprised six ships, all ordered during 1781 and all named on 13 July 1781.

Saint-Esprit-class ship of the lineW
Saint-Esprit-class ship of the line

The Saint-Esprit group was a type of three 80-gun ships of the line of the French Navy. They did not constitute a single class, as each was built to a separate design, but they each carried a standard ordnance amounting to 80 guns.Saint-Esprit. Renamed Scipion.Builder: Brest Ordered: 11 January 1762 Launched: 12 October 1765 Fate: Lost in storm on 26 january 1795Languedoc Renamed Anti-fédéraliste and VictoireBuilder: Toulon Ordered: 9 December 1761 Launched: 15 May 1766 Fate: Broken up in 1799 in BrestCouronne.Builder: Arsenal of Brest Ordered: 1766 Launched: May 1768 Fate: Accidentally burnt at Brest in 1781. A replacement, Couronne was constructed from the salvaged remains. Renamed Ça Ira in 1792, this ship was captured by Britain on 14 March 1795, destroyed in an accidental fire on 11 April 1796

Sans-Pareil-class ship of the lineW
Sans-Pareil-class ship of the line

Sans Pareil ("Peerless") was a ship of the line project presented to Louis XV between 1757 and 1760. No actual ship of this type bore the name in the French Navy, though Royal Louis was built on the scheme.

Scipion-class ship of the lineW
Scipion-class ship of the line

The Scipion class was a class of three 74-gun ships built to a design by François-Guillaume Clairin-Deslauriers, the ingénieur-constructeur en chef at Rochefort Dockyard. These were the shortest 74-gun ships built by France since the 1750s, and they were found to lack stability as a consequence. The third ship - originally the Pluton - was 'girdled' (sheathed) with 32 cm of pine at Rochefort in 1799 to overcome her instability, and the design of two further ships ordered at the same dockyard in 1779 were lengthened.ScipionBuilder: Rochefort Dockyard Ordered: early 1778 Begun: 10 April 1778 Launched: 19 September 1778 Completed: February 1779 Fate: Wrecked in Samana Bay, off San Domingo on 19 October 1782.HerculeBuilder: Rochefort Dockyard Ordered: early 1778 Begun: 1 April 1778 Launched: 5 October 1778 Completed: February 1779 Fate: Razéed to 50-gun frigate in February to June 1794, and renamed Hydre in May 1795; discarded 1797.PlutonBuilder: Rochefort Dockyard Ordered: early 1778 Begun: 10 April 1778 Launched: 5 November 1778 Completed: February 1779 Fate: Renamed Dugommier on 17 December 1797. Taken to pieces at Brest in 1805.

Souverain-class ship of the lineW
Souverain-class ship of the line

The Souverain class was a type of two 74-gun ships of the line.

Suffren-class ship of the lineW
Suffren-class ship of the line

The Suffren class was a late type of 90-gun ships of the line of the French Navy.

Téméraire-class ship of the lineW
Téméraire-class ship of the line

The Téméraire-class ships of the line were a class of a hundred and twenty 74-gun ships of the line ordered between 1782 and 1813 for the French navy or its attached navies in dependent (French-occupied) territories. Although a few of these were cancelled, the type was and remains the most numerous class of capital ship ever built to a single design.

Terrible-class ship of the lineW
Terrible-class ship of the line

The Terrible class was a type of two 110-gun ships of the line, built on a design by Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb.

Tonnant-class ship of the lineW
Tonnant-class ship of the line

The Tonnant class was a series of eight 80-gun ships of the line designed in 1787 by Jacques-Noël Sané, whose plans for the prototype were approved on 29 September 1787. With sixteen gunports on the lower deck on each side these were the most effective two-deckers of their era. Their broadside of 1,102 livres equated to 1,190 British pounds weight, over 50% more than the standard British 74-gun ship, and even greater than that of a British 100-gun three-decker.

Ville de Nantes-class ship of the lineW
Ville de Nantes-class ship of the line

The Ville de Nantes class consisted of three second-rank, 90-gun, steam-powered ships of the line built for the French Navy in the 1850s. Most of the ships participated in the Second French intervention in Mexico in the 1860s and spent extensive amounts of time in reserve. In 1871–1872 the sister ships were used as prison ships after the Paris Commune was crushed by the French government in 1871.