French frigate Cléopâtre (1838)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Cléopâtre |
| Namesake | Cleopatra |
| Builder | Charles Alexandre (with assistance from Joseph Daviel and Georges Allix from 1835) |
| Laid down | 1 September 1827 |
| Launched | 23 April 1838 |
| Commissioned | 24 April 1838 |
| Decommissioned | 1 July 1838 |
| Ship recommissioned | 21 July 1842 |
| Ship struck | 31 December 1864 |
| Ship broken up | 1869 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Artémise-class |
| Displacement | 2,300 tonnes |
| Length | 52.8 m (173 ft) |
| Beam | 13.72 m (45.0 ft) |
| Draught | 6.70 m (22.0 ft) |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Complement | 441 men |
| Armament |
|
| Armour | Timber |
Cléopâtre was a 50-gun frigate of the Artémise class that served in the French Navy. Launched in 1838 after an almost 11-year period of construction, she was in commission for only three months during her transfer from Saint Servan to Brest. She was recommissioned in 1842. In 1843 the Cléopâtre rescued all 34 people aboard the Regular East Indiaman that had been abandoned during a voyage from London to Bombay. She sailed to Japan in 1846 in an attempt to open up trade with that country and served as a transport during the Crimean War of 1853–1856. She was used as a storage hulk after 1864 and broken up in 1869.
The Artémise class of (largely) 52-gun frigates were design by Jean-Baptiste Hubert with the first vessel, Artémise launched in 1828 and the last Flore in 1869. The first vessels were sail-powered with later vessels steam-driven. The sail-powered Cléopâtre was constructed at Saint Servan by Charles Alexandre (with assistance from Joseph Daviel and Georges Allix from 1835). The keel was laid on 1 September 1827 and she was launched on 23 April 1838.[1]
The Cléopâtre was commissioned on 24 April and completed in June. She sailed to Brest under tow from the steam corvette Tonnerre and was decommissioned on 1 July. The Cléopâtre recommissioned on 21 July 1842 at which point she was armed with 28 30-pounder long guns on her upper deck and 18 30-pounder carronades and 4 16cm shell-firing guns on her lower deck.[1]