French ship Henri IV

Summary


The Henri IV was a 100-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, named after Henry IV of France. She was launched in 1848. Her shipwreck in a storm off Sebastopol in 1854 marked the beginnings of French meteorology.

History edit

 
Admiral De Gueydon, captain of the Henri IV.
 
Henri IV at the bombardment of Salé.

Henri IV was the last warship launched under Louis Philippe I and also saw service under the French Second Republic and Second French Empire. She was commanded by Louis Henri de Gueydon from 1850 to 1852[1] and took part in the bombardment of Salé on 26 November 1851, suffering major damage and losing her main mast.[2]

 
Shipwreck of the Henri IV.

She also fought in the Crimean War, including the Siege of Sevastopol. A major hurricane took the Allied fleet by surprise off the coast of Eupatoria on 14 November 1854, sinking the Henri IV and the corvette Pluton.[3] They were two of 38 French, Ottoman and British ships lost in November 1854. The sinking of the Henri IV proved a spur to French meteorological research.[4][5]

Bibliography edit

  • Frédéric Zurcher and Élie-Philippe Margollé, Les Naufrages célèbres, Paris : Hachette, 1873 - 3rd edition, 1877, chap.19, pp. 184–195 [1]

References edit

  1. ^ Life of Louis Henri de Gueydon Archived 2014-04-30 at the Wayback Machine, sur www.ceuxdebougie.com
  2. ^ Mohamed Ben Ali Doukkali, l'Histoire des Deux Rives [« Al-Ithaf Al Wajiz, Tarikh Al-Adwatayn »], Editions Maârif de Rabat, diffusion de la bibliothèque Sbihi, 1996 (2nd edition), 400 p., p. 337
  3. ^ Élie Margollé, Les naufrages célèbres, Editions Ancre de Marine, 1872, 308 p. Read online (French)
  4. ^ Bulletin de Météorologie et transports maritimes, on www.wmo.int (Illustration of the wreck of the Henri IV)
  5. ^ PDF Report by commandant Jehenne on the wreck of the Henri IV Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine

External links edit

  •   Media related to Henri IV (ship, 1848) at Wikimedia Commons