French ship Charlemagne (1807)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Charlemagne.

Launch of Charlemagne before Napoléon.
History
France
Name	Charlemagne
Namesake	Charlemagne
Ordered	4 January 1803
Builder	Antwerp
Laid down	May 1804
Launched	8 April 1807
Stricken	30 August 1814
Fate	Ceded to the Netherlands, broken up 1823
General characteristics
Class and type	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement	2,966 tonnes 5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length	54 m (177 ft 2 in)
Beam	14.3 m (46 ft 11 in)
Draught	6.7 m (22 ft 0 in)
Propulsion	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Complement	678 men
Armament	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 24-pounder long guns Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pounder carronades

Charlemagne was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, part of the shorter Borée subtype.

Career

Charlemagne was the first ship of the line to be built in Antwerp according to the wishes of Napoléon, who wanted to expand the French Navy by exploiting shipyards in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy. In 1807, she was stationed in Vlissingen under Commander Dupotet, in the squadron of Vice-Admiral Missiessy. She aided in the defence of Antwerp against the amphibious raid led by Chatham, and again during the Siege of Antwerp of 1814.

After the Bourbon Restoration, on 30 August 1814, Charlemagne was transferred to the Dutch Navy, as per the Treaty of Paris. The Dutch brought her into service as Nassau.

References

• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours, 1671–1870. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. p. 110. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.