French ship Couronne (1636)

Couronne (French for "crown") was an emblematic ship of the French Navy built by order of Richelieu.

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Couronne.
Couronne. Frontispiece of Hydrographie by Georges Fournier, 1643.
History
Kingdom of France
Builder:
Laid down: 1629
Launched: 1632 or 1633
Commissioned: 1636
Decommissioned: 1645
In service: 1635
Out of service: 1645
Fate: scrapped
General characteristics
Tonnage: 1,500
Length: 165 French feet overall[1](excludes 10 metre-long bowsprit) 120 French feet keel
Beam: 44 French feet
Depth of hold: 16 feet
Decks: 2 gun decks
Complement: 500, + 9 officers; later 643 men
Armament:
  • 48 - 72 guns:
  • Lower battery 22 18-pounder long guns
  • Upper battery: 24 9-pounder long guns
  • Forecastle: 8 6-pounder long guns firing forwards
  • Quarterdeck: 8 6-pounder long guns firing aft
Armour: Timber

The Couronne was the first major warship to be designed and built by the French themselves in accordance with Richelieu's plans to renew the French Navy, after a series of warships had been built by the Dutch. The construction was supervised by Isaac de Launay Razilly (died in Arcadia 1635),[2] and overseen by the famous carpenter Charles Morieu, from Dieppe. She was being constructed at La Roche-Bernard and was one of the most advanced units of her time. After launch in 1632 or 1633, she was moved to Brouage in September 1634 where she was completed around 1635 by Mathieu Casteau. She carried up to heavy guns, most on her two-deck broadsaide but also 8 firing forwards from the bow and 8 firing aft, an unusual feature until Dupuy de Lôme redesigned naval artillery.

Couronne took part in the Battle of Guetaria on 22 August 1638, and another expedition to Spain in 1639 under Henri de Sourdis.

The ship was disarmed in 1641 and scrapped between 1643–1645.



  • Photograph of a model lost in 1943

See also

References
  • Nomenclature des Vaisseaux de Louis XIII et de la régence d'Anne d'Autriche, 1610 a 1661. Alain Demerliac (Editions Omega, Nice – 2004).
  • The Sun King's Vessels (2015) - Jean-Claude Lemineur; English translation by François Fougerat. Editions ANCRE. ISBN 978-2903179885
  • Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen (2017) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626-1786: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4738-9351-1.
  1. The French (pre-metric) foot was 6.575% longer than the equivalent English foot.
  2. Instruction sheet for "La Couronne", Heller Model Company


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