French ship Austerlitz (1852)

The Austerlitz was a late 100-gun Hercule-class ship of the line of the French Navy.

The Austerlitz in 1854, drawing by Louis Le Breton
History
France
Namesake: Battle of Austerlitz
Builder: Cherbourg
Laid down: 17 August 1832
Launched: 15 September 1852
Fate: Scrapped, 1895
General characteristics
Class and type: Hercule class
Displacement: 4500 tonnes
Length: 70.62 m (231.7 ft)
Beam: 16.80 m (55.1 ft)
Draught: 7.67 m (25.2 ft)
Propulsion:
  • Sail
  • Steam engine after 1850, 500 shp
Speed: 10.2 knots (18.9 km/h; 11.7 mph)
Complement: 883
Armament: 100 guns

Service history

Laid down as Ajax, she was renamed Austerlitz on 28 November 1839, still on keel.

In 1850, her rigging was changed for that of a 90-gun, and a steam engine was installed.

On 19 September 1854, she ran aground in the Ledsund, in the Åland Islands, Grand Duchy of Finland. She was refloated after throwing sixteen of her cannon overboard.[1] She took part in operations in the Black Sea in 1854. On 16 April 1855, Austerlitz ran aground at South Foreland, Kent, United Kingdom in foggy weather.[2] She was refloated the next day.[3]

From 1871, she was used as a prison hulk of prisoners of the Paris Commune. Between 1874 and 1894, she was used as a school ship. She was eventually broken up in 1895.

References
  1. "The Baltic". The Times (21863). London. 4 October 1854. col B-C, p. 7.
  2. "Ship News". The Times (22030). London. 17 April 1855. col E, p. 12.
  3. "Ship News". The Standard (9576). London. 17 April 1855.

Bibliography
  • Jones, Colin (1996). "Entente Cordiale, 1865". In McLean, David & Preston, Antony (eds.). Warship 1996. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-685-X.
  • Jean-Michel Roche, Dictionnaire des Bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours, tome I
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