LeBoiteux Posted May 15, 2016 Share Posted May 15, 2016 The French East India Company (1664-1794) Between 1720 and 1770, the Company gained a great prosperity and built more than 300 ships, a third of them being two-deck ships from 600 to 1500 ton. Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_East_India_Company La Paix, 1764 : http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66472.html Le Boullongne 600-ton French fluyt, 1759 20 guns (6-pdrs) Source : http://gerard.delacroix.pagesperso-orange.fr/boullon/bou_2.htm Built in Lorient by G. Cambry on behalf of the French East India Company. Design (especially the interior) is a bit different from ships built by and for the French Royal Navy, such as Le Gros Ventre, to serve as a freight transport ship. Named after Jean de Boullongne, French magistrate and politician. Captured by the British in 1762. Length (gundeck) : 126' Breadth : 30' Depth in hold : 11'8" Monograph and plans : http://ancre.fr/en/monographies-en/63-monographie-du-boullongne-v-cie-des-indes-1759.html?search_query=boullongne&results=2 Shipmodels : http://gerard.delacroix.pagesperso-orange.fr/boullon/bou_index.htm http://www.amarsenal.be/05_MM_19_SDB01.htm http://enguerrand.gourong.free.fr/oceanindien/p19oceanindien.htm Source : http://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=16503 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sella Posted May 15, 2016 Share Posted May 15, 2016 Magnifique! Excellent work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeBoiteux Posted May 15, 2016 Author Share Posted May 15, 2016 Le Saint Géran 600-ton French fluyt, 1736 28 guns Source : http://www.first-fleet-reproductions.com/client/cache/produit/600_600______intro_zoom_37.jpg 29 m x 9,60 m x 21m Another fluyt built in Lorient by the French East India Company. The shipwreck of Le Saint Guéran off the coast of Mauritius inspired J.-H. Bernardin de Saint-Pierre to write the famous novel Paul and Virginia (1788) in which the heroine’s fate ends in drowning during the sinking of the ship off the coast of Mauritius while returning home to the island : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_et_Virginie Shipmodels (no plan) certainly based on the plan of Le Boullongne (see above): http://www.first-fleet-reproductions.com/6-historic-saint-geran.html http://www.bobatoshipmodels.com/en/stgeran.php http://www.la-timonerie-antiquites.com/fr/antique/801/superbe-maquette-artisanale-du-voilier-saint-geran-cie-des-indes Source : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Géran Thx to Sella22 for this find !! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haratik Posted May 15, 2016 Share Posted May 15, 2016 Awesome!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeBoiteux Posted May 15, 2016 Author Share Posted May 15, 2016 (edited) Le Massiac 900 to 950-ton French fluyt, 1759 24 guns (8 and 12-pdr) : 6 on the lower deck, 18 on the upper deck Built by Antoine Groignard on behalf of the French East India Company. Named after Claude de Massiac, Secretary of State to the Royal Navy. General characteristics : Length : 140 ft Beam : 35 ft Draught : 18 - 19 ft Crew : 159 - 199 Plans available : in the Archives of the French Navy : D1 65, n° 9, cl. 92383. in Boudriot, Le Bonhomme Richard, p. 18-19 Comparison with Le Duc de Duras Both have the same burden (900 ton), are designed by A. Groignard and are, to within 4 inches (11 cm), of the same length. Sources : http://www.histoire-genealogie.com/spip.php?article387 Edited November 3, 2018 by LeBoiteux 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeBoiteux Posted May 16, 2016 Author Share Posted May 16, 2016 (edited) Le Duc de Duras (future Bonhomme Richard) 900-ton French fluyt, 1765 26 to 52 guns Source : http://www.amarsenal.be/Images_05%20MM%2023_AW_DdD/DdD_AW010.jpg Two trading voyages to China before Company dissolution in 1770. Repurchased by Louis XVI, transferred to the early Navy of the USA and renamed Bonhomme Richard. She then won fame during the American Revolutionary War. Characteristics : 145 x 36 x 15 ft Crew : 160 Armament : as Le Duc de Duras : in peace time : 20 x 8-pdr in war time : 26 x 12-pdr + 26 x 8-pdr as Le Bonhomme Richard : 44 guns Sources, plans and shipmodels : http://ancre.fr/en/monographies-en/54-monographie-du-bonhomme-richard-1779.html?search_query=bonhomme&results=3 http://www.amarsenal.be/05_MM_23_AW_DdD01.htm Four plans of 54-58 gun Fluyts of the French East India Company One signed by Coulomb, the others by Groignard in Lorient in 1755. (all available in the Archives of the French Navy) 1) D1 66, n° 3, cl. 33784 2) D1 66, n° 4, cl. 92130 3) D1 66, n° 5, cl. 33783 4) D1 66, n° 6, cl. 92389 Edited October 5, 2018 by LeBoiteux 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malachi Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 Great topic, LB! my contribution: Le Chameau 140' 3'' x 30' (right part) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeBoiteux Posted May 16, 2016 Author Share Posted May 16, 2016 @ Malachi : Great contribution. I guess this is : Le Chameau (1758-1766) Fluyt, 750 ton, 12-26 guns Crew : 65-123 Built in Lorient Destinations : Mascarene Islands, India, China, La Coruña. Sources : Estienne 1986, 2114, 2126, 2134 ; Demerliac XV n° 1903 Archives of the French East India Company or is it : Le Chameau (1716-1725) Fluyt,, 400 ton Built in Holland in 1716 Shipwrecked in 1725. 10-20 guns Crew : 59-65 Destinations : Guinea, Louisiana, Senegal, Santo Domingo Sources : Estienne 113, 176 ; Dermerliac XV n° 1981 Archives of the French East India Company 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sella Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 By the way does anybody recognise this? Supposedly its of a French indiaman of ~1755 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malachi Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 Le Chameau (1758-1766) Fluyt, 750 ton, 12-26 guns Crew : 65-123 Built in Lorient Destinations : Mascarene Islands, India, China, La Coruña. Sounds about right But I think I got the wrong drawing for the stern decorations, judging by the style of the decorations the right part could be for Le Chameau of 1744 (sheer and body plan can be found in the ANM), the left part for Le Chameau of 1718. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malachi Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 Le Maure 94' x 26' 4'' 20 6-pounders launched in August 1765 at Toulon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeBoiteux Posted May 16, 2016 Author Share Posted May 16, 2016 Af Chapman drew a French fluyt called Le Chameau in his Architectura Navalis : Source : http://www.sjohistoriska.se/ImageVaultFiles/id_3083/cf_1801/53.JPG Has this to do with the French East India Company's ones ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeBoiteux Posted May 16, 2016 Author Share Posted May 16, 2016 @ Malachi, about Le Maure : Are you sure that that Maure built in 1765 belonged to the French East India Company ? The only Maure in the Archive of the Company is a 300-ton vessel (1712-1730). Moreover, I think (but I'm not sure) that all the ships built by the Company was made at Lorient, not at Toulon. Source : Estienne 71, 263 ; Dermeliac XV n° 1962 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malachi Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 Hm, not all ships were built at Lorient, e.g. La Fidèle was launched at Nantes and made two trips to india as an 'official' EIC escort ship. Maybe they were bought by/transferred to the EIC after their launch? Has this to do with the French East India Company's ones ? The body plans look very similiar, so maybe they reused Ollivier´s design for a ship of the EIC? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeBoiteux Posted May 16, 2016 Author Share Posted May 16, 2016 Hm, not all ships were built at Lorient, e.g. La Fidèle was launched at Nantes and made two trips to india as an 'official' EIC escort ship. Maybe they were bought by/transferred to the EIC after their launch? La Fidèle (1757) is indeed a 400-ton 20-gun frigate launched at Nantes and owned by the Company from apparently her sailing from Nantes to Lorient. But she shows up in the Archives of the Company unlike Le Maure (1765). Could those Archives be incomplete ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surcouf Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 L'Embuscade. Schooner of harbor 1777. From Rochefort. #edit by Surcouf# Fluyt of 600 to 700 tx ~ 1760/80. From Rochefort. #edit by Surcouf# L'Outarde. Fluyt of 700 tx 1754. From Rochefort. #edit by Surcouf# 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sire Trinkof Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 Pictures I took in the French East India company , in Lorient, Sorry I wrote in french the description ( it is late, I was confused, will edit the post tomorrow) I wrote the name and dates of each ships on a notebook when I was there a few years ago .... but My apartment is a mess, cannot find it anymore, sorry for the few intels around the photographs... , someof them , launch date dates might be wrong, but not by much Navire de 600 tonneaux, pondicherry 1740-1760 le Massiac 1759 : Flute la Cloche, 1685, 2 voyages aux indes, capturée au Cap lors du second retour avec le déclenchement de la guerre de la Ligue de Aubsbourg Le Comte de Provence ou Comte d'Artois, je ne me souviens plus / 60 canons en temps de guerre / 1757 Vues internes du comte d'Artois : Navire de la compagnie 1719 Sloop 18ème Pondichery avant la guerre de 7 ans : 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surcouf Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 The first ship is a le Boullogne to 600tx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sire Trinkof Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 (edited) The first ship is a le Boullogne to 600tx.The name was not quoted, it seem this type of 600 TX ship was very generic, I remember another model made according to an archeological site, in an annexe of the museum, another ship, but it looked almost exactly the same.But yes, looking like the boullongne! Edited August 29, 2016 by Sire Trinkof Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haratik Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Discovered another model of Le Boullongne. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeBoiteux Posted October 5, 2018 Author Share Posted October 5, 2018 (edited) Just a little note about the new website of the 'Museum of the French India Company' at Lorient, Brittany (France) about all the French trading Companies of the 17-18th centuries in America, India, Far East... Exhibitions of period nautical charts, ship models, drawings, furniture, China porcelain... Website (in French) here. Some of the ship models discussed above are shown in this museum (Le Massiac, Le Comte d'Artois...). The new website of this museum with a dot bzh (for Brittany and not .fr anymore !) explains some of the dead links of this thread. Edited October 5, 2018 by LeBoiteux 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeBoiteux Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 (edited) Le Penthièvre 600 tonnes, built by G. Cambry up to 30 guns Drawing by Matthieu de Gennes de La Chancelière at La Praya in 1743 SHD Toulon Sources and voyages : here. Edited October 20, 2018 by LeBoiteux Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeBoiteux Posted November 3, 2018 Author Share Posted November 3, 2018 (edited) I updated the post above about Le Massiac, adding that her plan can be found in Boudriot, Le Bonhomme Richard, p. 18-19, as those two ships share the same builder (Antoine Groignard), the same burden (900 ton) and almost the same length. NB : the plan of Le Bertin (1760, 1200 tons burden 28 guns, crew = 239), also designed by Groignard and used by the French East India Company, can be found at the same pages of Boudriot's book, also at the Greenwich Museum and on NA forum : here. Le Bertin did a voyage to India and the Mascarene Islands and was captured by the British. Edited November 4, 2018 by LeBoiteux 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirAlatriste Posted November 15, 2018 Share Posted November 15, 2018 (edited) I want something like this @admin. I will rule the economy with one of that trader vessels while I'm maybe making another thing in my desk, with even more hold (weight) than an indiaman and being able to fight -almost- a Bellona, thanks to a beautiful but gunned ship like this. Not all is PvP ships!! There are a lot if trader players!! Edited March 7, 2019 by SirAlatriste Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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