"French Warships in the Age of Sail, 1786-1862..." Topic

…: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.

"In 1786 the French navy had just emerged from its most successful war of the eighteenth century, and the reputation of its ship design and fighting skills never stood higher. Though the effects of the French Revolution would devastate the navy's efficiency, the French would go on to produce some of the most advanced, innovative ships of the age. This book contains an abundance of information on the construction and careers of each of these marvelous ships. The result of such detail is the first concise, clear resource on the development of French warships in the latter half of the sailing era"

Main page
link

If anyonw have read this book… recomendations?

Thanks in advance for your guidance!

Amicalement
Armand

well my friend Emir that knows his stuff on naval warfare says it is great. "Rif is a legendary historian in the age of sail, he wrote paradigm making books"

As I understand it, the book lacks for any real "meat" on how French ships were actually built.

It's nothing like the classic books on English/British ships of the same era (Arming and Fitting, Construction and Fitting etc…).

It's about time for someone do to the French (and Spanish etc.) navy proper justice and get a good set of books out covering their design approach, construction methods and so on.

I bought this when it first came out. It is mostly histories of the various ships, including things like name changes during the Revolution, building dates and locations, etc. With that in mind, it is very useful for what it does, which is give you a breakdown of the Navy as built, including differing ship classes within a type (different classes of 74s, for instance).

If you want excellent information on French design and shipbuilding in English, you have to lay out the 100's of dollars to purchase Jean Boudriot's The Seventy Four Gun Ship series.
BWW

Winfield get two thumbs up from me. I have several works by him and would recommend him without reservation, provided that his approach to the subject matter is understood. What you will get is an accounting of essential details of each individual ship of the subject navy within the time frame Winfield is addressing: names and name changes; design/class; construction, launch, commissioning and disposal dates; dimensions and tonnage; crew size, armament and alterations thereto; captains, service careers and refit dates … etc.

What you won't find are lengthy discourses on warship design philosophy/history, naval strategy, famous battles and personalities … which IMO is perfectly fine: such topics have been more than adequately addressed by numerous other authors.

So far as I know, the only other reasonably accessible source for such material and detail on La Marine Francaise (outside of Boudriot) would be Demerliac.

Speaking of Boudriot's "74 Gun Ship" which I also have, do note that his subject matter is focused upon the French Navy as of the year 1780; if one's interest lies with the French navy of the Revolutionary period or later, you need to look atr Demerliac. Boudriot alone will not fill the bill. That said, within the scope set by the author, "The 74 Gun Ship" is a magisterial and useful general reference work for many related aspects of the French navy of the late 18th century. However, as BrianW points out, the 4 volume set is by no means cheap.

My opinion, FWIW.

B

Thanks!

Amicalement
Armand

Yep – Boudriot's series – each volume seems to run about $80 USD-150+, not accounting for shipping, taxes (title, registration fees, first born…).

Blutarski,
I did not mean to cast any aspersions on Winfield and if it sounds that way I retract it immediately! His works are always useful and I really didn't give him the proper respect in such a short reply.

As for Boudriot, while he does focus on 1780, those are the ships that bear the brunt of the fighting up to Trafalgar so he is still useful. Volume iv dealing with manning, fleet maneuvering and signals is also still quite relevant after the Revolution. Not familiar with Demerliac; are his works in English? Also, could you give me some titles?
BWW

BrianW – IMO, nothing you wrote about Winfield's book remotely resembled an aspersion; it was all fair and honest comment. My follow-up post said essentially the same thing you did, just using way too many words.

Re Demerliac, go here -
link

The volumes that I know are in French, but much useful info can nevertheless be extracted by careful reading and any reasonable grasp of necessary vocabulary. I am not sure if it has ever been translated into English.

B