The history of the French Navy can be divided into the following eras: The creation of the first actual State Navy, under Louis XIII, thanks to the politics of Richelieu. This navy was largely ruined by the troubles of the Fronde. A rebuilt and brilliant era under Louis XIV, largely thanks to Jean-Baptiste Colbert.

The French Navy pioneered several innovations in naval technology, including the first steam-powered ship of the line, first seagoing ironclad warship, first mechanically propelled submarine, first steel-hulled warship, and first armoured cruiser.

In 1789 the French navy had three main military seaports: Brest and Rochefort on the Atlantic, and Toulon on the Mediterranean. These ports were the headquarters for senior commanders, and the bases for most Marine units.

In 1791, their naval force consisted of 73 men of war, 67 frigates, 19 cutters, 29 armed brigs, 7 gun-boats, besides several galliots, and hospital-ships ; but the war of the Revolution annihilated...

The French navy suffered considerably due to the French revolution. Having finished the American War of Independence on something approaching a high (comparatively speaking), the French navy suffered a reverse that it never fully recovered from until well after the finish of the Napoleonic Wars.

“This book is not merely a history of the French Navy but a step-by-step exposition of a hugely complex war, laid out by a single histori-an whose starting point is the diplomacy and politics of the protag-onists, and who fi ts the French Navy into this framework. . . .

(Use this page to find ships whose names you know.)

INTRODUCTION: THE FRENCH NAVY, 1816-1859 PART 1: GENERAL HISTORY 1816-1830: Rebuilding a Fleet 1830-1840: Retrenchment and Experimentation 1840-1852: Ferment 1852-1859: Towards a New Fleet PART 2: TECHNOLOGICAL HISTORY Innovations in Sail Steam Propulsion Naval Gunnery Ship Design PART 3: SHIP TYPES Ships of the Line Frigates Corvettes Brigs ...

This site also contains a list of ships in the French navy as of 1816 and a historical introduction that includes data tables on building programs, the strength of the navy, its guns, steam engine builders, etc.

In 1841 key figures in the French navy came to feel that their nation and service had been humiliated by failure to support the French protege, Mehmed Ali of Egypt, in his collision with the...