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 .
Armament As built, the first two ships of this class carried the same 80-gun armament as their predecessors of the Tonnant class - thirty 36-livre guns on the lower deck, thirty-two 24-livre guns on the upper deck, and eighteen 12-livre guns plus six 36-livre obusiers (howitzers) on the spar deck above (the French livre was about 8% greater than the British pound weight, so that 12 livres almost equaled 13 British pounds, and the 36-livre round equated to 38lbs 13.6oz).
Under the 1806 règlement, the spar deck ordnance was altered to fourteen 12-livre guns plus ten 36-livre carronades. Subsequently, additional 36-livre carronades were carried by most later ships of the class, raising them to 86-gun ships (with variations in actual numbers).
Ships in class
Bucentaure Builder: Toulon Ordered: 16 September 1802 Begun: 22 November 1802 Launched: 13 July 1803 Completed: January 1804 Fate: Captured by the Royal Navy on 21 October 1805 following Trafalgar. Was briefly recaptured but was then wrecked on 23 October 1805.
Neptune (i) Builder: Toulon Ordered: 16 September 1802 Begun: 4 January 1803 Launched: 15 August 1803 Completed: April 1804 Fate: Captured by the Spanish Navy in June 1808, renamed Neptuno, Broken up 1820.
Robuste Builder: Toulon Ordered: 26 March 1805 Begun: May 1805 Launched: 30 October 1806 Completed: May 1807 Fate: Scuttled and burnt on 26 October 1809.
Ville de Varsovie Builder: Rochefort Ordered: 30 April 1804 Begun: 22 March 1805 as Tonnant, renamed 14 May 1807 Launched: 10 May 1808 Completed: July 1808 Fate: Captured and burnt by the British in April 1809.
Donawerth Builder: Toulon Ordered: 11 August 1806 Begun: December 1806 Launched: 4 July 1808 Completed: October 1808 Fate: Broken up 1824.
Eylau Builder: Lorient Begun: September 1805 Launched: 19 November 1808 Completed: May 1809 Fate: Condemned 1829 and broken up.
Friedland Builder: Antwerp Begun: July 1807 Launched: 2 May 1810 Completed: May 1811 Fate: Handed over to the Netherlands on 1 August 1814 and renamed Vlaming. Broken up 1823.
Sceptre Builder: Toulon Ordered: 126 December 1808 Begun: March 1809 Launched: 15 August 1810 Completed: March 1811 Fate: Condemned 1828 and hulked.
Tilsitt Builder: Antwerp Begun: September 1807 Launched: 15 August 1810 Completed: May 1811 Fate: Handed over to the Netherlands on 1 August 1814 and renamed Neptunus. Condemned and broken up 1818.
Auguste Builder: Antwerp Begun: October 1807 Launched: 25 April 1811 Completed: July 1811 Fate: Handed over to the Netherlands on 1 August 1814 but returned to France in September and renamed Illustre. Condemned and broken up 1827.
Pacificateur Builder: Antwerp Begun: September 1807 Launched: 22 May 1811 Completed: August 1811 Fate: Condemned 1823.
Illustre Builder: Antwerp Begun: August 1807 Launched: 9 June 1811 Completed: October 1811 Fate: Handed over to the Netherlands on 1 August 1814 and renamed Prins van Oranje. Sold 1825 and broken up.
Diademe Builder: Lorient Begun: November 1807 Launched: 1 December 1811 Completed: March 1812 Fate: Condemned 1856 and broken up 1868.
Conquérant Builder: Antwerp Begun: December 1808 Launched: 27 April 1812 Completed: September 1812 Fate: Condemned 1831.
Zélandais Builder: Cherbourg Begun: October 1810 Launched: 12 October 1813 Completed: March 1814 Fate: Condemned 1836 and hulked. Broken up 1858.
Magnifique Builder: Lorient Begun: December 1809 Launched: 29 October 1814 Completed: November 1814 Fate: Condemned 1837.
Centaure Builder: Cherbourg Begun: November 1811 Launched: 8 January 1818 Completed: April 1818 Fate: Renamed Santi Pietri in October 1823. Hulked 1849, burnt by accident 1862.
Neptune (ii) Builder: Lorient Begun: December 1810 Launched: 21 March 1818 Completed: June 1818 Fate: Hulked 1858, broken up 1868.
Algésiras Builder: Lorient Begun: April 1812 Launched: 21 August 1823 Completed: April 1824 Fate: Hulked 1846.
Jupiter Builder: Cherbourg Begun: November 1811 Launched: 22 October 1831 Completed: September 1833 Fate: hulked 1863.
Vesuvio Builder: Castellammare di Stabia Begun: August 1812 Launched: 2 December 1824 Completed: 1825 Fate: Not launched as French warship; became Neapolitan ship in December 1813.
No other vessels of this design were completed, the following were begun at Antwerp, but were taken over in 1814 by the Netherlands, were never launched or completed, and were broken up on the stocks. Mars Begun: April 1811 Alexandre Begun: June 1811 Tibre Begun: June 1811 Atlas Begun: September 1811 Fougueux Begun: July 1812
A further ship to this same design was begun as Saturno in May 1812 at Venice, and was renamed Emo by the Austrians following their seizure of that city, but was broken up on the stocks in 1818–19. A second ship was ordered at Venice in 1813, but was never laid down. Finally a further ship of this class was ordered in 1812 at Rochefort, but was never laid down or even assigned a name.
References
Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S. (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. .