Romaine-class frigate

The Romaine class was a class of nine frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1794 by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait. They were originally designated as "bomb-frigates" (Fr. frégate-bombarde) and were intended to carry a main armament of twenty 24-pounder guns and a 12-inch mortar mounted on a turntable in front of the mizzen mast. Experience quickly led to the mortars being removed (in most vessels they were never fitted), and the 24-pounders were replaced by 18-pounder guns. The ships also featured a shot furnace, but they proved impractical, dangerous to the ships themselves, and were later discarded. A further eleven ships ordered to this design in 1794 were not built, or were completed to altered designs.

Two vessels of the class became breakwaters in less than 15 years after their construction. The British Royal Navy captured three. One was lost at sea. None had long active duty careers. All-in-all, these ships do not appear to have been successful with the initially intended armament, but proved of adequate performance once their heavy mortar was removed and their 24-pounders replaced with 18-pounder long guns.

Vessels in class

 * FRENCH FRIGATE Romaine
 * Builder: Le Havre
 * Begun: March 1794
 * Launched: 25 September 1794
 * Completed: December 1794
 * Fate: Condemned 1804.


 * FRENCH FRIGATE Immortalité
 * Builder: Lorient
 * Begun: May 1794
 * Launched: 7 January 1795
 * Completed: February 1795
 * Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 20 October 1798, becoming HMS Immortalite.


 * FRENCH FRIGATE Impatiente
 * Builder: Lorient
 * Begun: May 1794
 * Launched: 12 March 1795
 * Completed: May 1795
 * Fate: Wrecked off Cape Clear on 29 December 1796.


 * FRENCH FRIGATE Incorruptible
 * Builder: Dieppe
 * Begun: March 1794
 * Launched: 20 May 1795
 * Completed: December 1795
 * Fate: Deleted 1815.


 * FRENCH FRIGATE Revanche
 * Builder: Dieppe
 * Begun: March 1794
 * Launched: 31 August 1795
 * Completed: December 1795
 * Fate: Deleted 1818 or 1819.


 * FRENCH FRIGATE Libre
 * Builder: Le Havre
 * Begun: August 1794
 * Launched: 11 February 1796
 * Completed: January 1798
 * Fate: Captured by the British Navy in December 1805, but not added to the British Navy.


 * FRENCH FRIGATE Comète
 * Builder: Le Havre
 * Begun: September 1794
 * Launched: 11 March 1796
 * Completed: January 1798
 * Fate: Converted to a breakwater 1808, taken to pieces 1810.


 * FRENCH FRIGATE Désirée
 * Builder: Dunkirk
 * Begun: February 1794
 * Launched: 23 April 1796
 * Completed: December 1798
 * Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 8 July 1800, becoming HMS Desiree.


 * FRENCH FRIGATE Poursuivante
 * Builder: Dunkirk
 * Begun: February or April 1794
 * Launched: 24 May 1796
 * Completed: April 1798
 * Fate: Condemned 1805, made a breakwater 1806 or 1807.

Twenty ships of this type were originally included in the shipbuilding programme placed between October 1794 and April 1794, but several appear not to have been begun. Apart from the nine listed above, a tenth vessel, FRENCH FRIGATE Furieuse, was begun at Cherbourg in March 1795 to the same design but was completed as a vessel of Forfait's earlier Seine-class frigate. An eleventh, Pallas (originally named Première) was begun at Saint-Malo in November 1795 to a much modified design; a twelfth, Fatalité was also ordered in October 1793 at Saint-Malo, but was cancelled in 1796, as was a further vessel, Nouvelle, ordered in 1794 at Lorient. Another vessel, Guerrière, was begun at Cherbourg in 1796 to this design but was also completed to a modified design.