Ship Type Menu.
Screw corvettes (1st class, 400 nhp, launched 1850-53)

ROLAND (launched 1850)
PHLEGETON class (launched 1852-53)


ROLAND screw corvette (1st class)

Displacement:	1299t
Dimensions:	173ft 7in wl, 179ft 4in deck x 33ft 6in mld, 34ft 1in ext x 15ft 0in mean, 16ft 6in max. Depth 13ft 10in
Same, meters:	52.92, 54.67 x 10.20, 10.40 x 4.58, 5.03m. 4.21m
Machinery:	400nhp (Mazeline). 4 cylinders, geared, trials 988ihp = 12.2kts
Hull material:	Wood
Armament:	(1852) 2-30p No.1, 4-16cm shell. (ca. 1853) 10-16cm shell. (ca. 1855) 8-16cm shell. (ca. 1865) 6-14cm rifles
Complement:	191

Name	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Commiss.	Fate
ROLAND	Toulon	6.8.45	5.9.50	10.3.52	Stk. 2.5.70

Class. In 2.44 Pironneau submitted two sets of plans for a steam corvette, one with paddle wheels and one with a screw propellor. The minister approved the paddle plans for Roland in 12.44--these plans were later used to build Colbert. The Inspector General of the Génie Maritime (Bonard) and Pironneau requested a review of this decision in view of the early successes of the screw, and in 6.45 the minister approved the use of the screw plans. The ship's machinery, ordered in 10.46, was similar to that in the British screw frigate Amphion. In mid-1848 problems were encountered installing Roland's propellor shaft because of her extremely fine lines aft, and her stern was shortened by about 3 meters. (Her original waterline length had been 183ft 9in.) This problem caused the navy to revert to the paddle wheel in another new wood hull, the aviso Milan, in 1848. The trials of Roland in 1852, however, were regarded as a great success. She initially served briefly as a yacht, being renamed Hortense 14.4.52 and Reine Hortense 24.4.52. She reverted to Roland effective 1.6.53.

Disposal. Roland was BU 1870.

A 400nhp corvette named Monge was planned for construction at Lorient in 1847, then at Toulon in 1848, but never materialized.



PHLEGETON class screw corvettes (1st class)

Displacement:	1467t (Laplace 1436t, Primauguet 1658t)
Dimensions:	186ft 1in wl, 202ft 7in deck x 36ft 10in mld, 37ft 5in ext x 16ft 6in mean, 17ft 11in max. Laplace same but 15ft 3in mean and 17ft 11in max draft. Primauguet same but 202ft 1in deck; 16ft 10in mean and 19ft 0in max draft. Depth 13ft 9in
Same, meters:	56.72, 61.75 x 11.22, 11.40 x 5.02, 5.45m Laplace same but 4.66, 5.46m. Primauguet same but 61.60; 5.13, 5.78m. 4.20m
Machinery:	400nhp. Phlégéton: (Indret), 2 cylinders, geared, 972ihp, 11kts. Laplace: (Schneider), 4 cylinders, direct, 975ihp, 11.5kts. Primauguet: (Mazeline), 4 cylinders, direct, trials 960ihp = 9.79kts. Coal 280t (Phlégéton 350t)
Hull material:	Wood
Armament:	(1854) 4-30p No.1 (6 in Phlégéton), 4-22cm No.1 shell (2 in Primauguet). (Phlégéton 1863) 4-16cm rifles, 4-22cm No.1 shell. (Laplace and Primauguet 1864-5) 8-14cm No.1 MLR (12 while overseas: carried by Primauguet in 1868). (Primauguet 1870) 4-16cm M1864-6 BLR. (Laplace 1870) 10-14cm No.1 MLR
Complement:	191

Name	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Commiss.	Fate
PHLEGETON	Cherbourg	24.4.50	25.4.53	17.3.54	Stk. 28.5.68
LAPLACE	Lorient	26.7.50	3.6.52	18.11.52	Stk. 18.3.79
PRIMAUGUET	Brest	18.6.50	15.9.52	25.6.53	Stk. 3.5.77

Class. The design for this class was begun in 10.48 and, after extensive studies, plans for the hull by Mangin and for the engines by Indret were approved in 3.50. The engines of Laplace, built on Schneider's plans, were not sufficiently sturdy and were replaced in 1864 by a set of trunk engines initially ordered from Indret for a later but similar ship, Decrès. In trials in 1870 these produced 1155ihp for 11.47kts. The sail area of Primauguet was 1695 sq.yd.

Disposals. Phlégéton and Lavoisier were BU respectively in 1868 and 1880. Primauguet was used as a torpedo target at Brest on 25.4.82 and was BU 1886.