French frigate Flore (1806)

A ​1⁄48 scale model of Flore on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris
History
France
Name: Flore
Namesake: Flora
Ordered: 3 August 1804
Builder: Rochefort, plans by Pierre-Jacques-Nicolas Rolland
Laid down: 1 July 1805
Launched: 11 November 1806
Acquired: 14 June 1810
Commissioned: 1807
Struck: 27 November 1811
General characteristics
Class and type: Armide-class frigate
Displacement: 1330 tonnes
Length: 47 m (154 ft)
Beam: 12 m (39 ft)
Draught: 5.5 m (18 ft)
Propulsion: Sail
Armament:
  • 44 guns:
  • 28 × 18-pounders
  • 16 × 8-pounders
  • 2 × 6-pounders
  • 2 × 36-pounder carronades
Armour: Timber

Flore was a 44-gun Armide-class frigate of the French Navy.

Service history

In 1808, she was part of Ganteaume's squadron that cruised in the Mediterranean.

On 12 March 1811, she was part of Bernard Dubourdieu's squadron sailing to raid the British commerce raider base of the island of Lissa. The squadron encountered William Hoste's frigate squadron, leading to the Battle of Lissa.

In the ensuing fight, Flore was distanced by her flagship Favorite, which engaged the British flagship HMS Amphion, and ran aground. Flore and Bellona caught on and engaged Amphion in a crossfire. Amphion outmanoeuvred Flore and raked her for ten minutes, after which Flore struck her colours.

The battle still raging, the British failed to send a capture crew aboard, and Flore eventually joined the surviving Carolina and Danaé and fleeing to Ragusa.

Flore was wrecked in a tempest off Chioggia on 30 November 1811, with the loss of 75. Her commanding officer, Frigate Captain Lissilour, was acquitted by the court martial.

A ​1⁄48 shipyard model of Flore, originally part of the Trianon model collection, is on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris.

Sources and references

  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
  • (in French) BATAILLE DE LISSA

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