The Pallas class constituted the standard design of 40-gun
frigates of the French Navy during the
Napoleonic Empire period.
Jacques-Noël Sané designed them in 1805, as a development of his seven-ship
Hortense class of 1802, and over the next eight years the Napoléonic government ordered in total 62 frigates to be built to this new design. Of these some 54 were completed, although ten of them were begun for the French Navy in shipyards within the French-occupied Netherlands or Italy, which were then under French occupation; these latter ships were completed for the Netherlands or Austrian navies after 1813.
Ships launched in 1807 (1)
Note – Corona was completed for the Napoleonic Italian Navy, but transferred to the French Navy in April 1810.
Fate: Still incomplete in April 1814 when Venice was captured by the Austrians. Then renamed Anfitrite and later Augusta in the Austrian Navy.
Ships launched in 1814 (3)
As noted below, all three vessels launched in 1814 were never added to the French Navy, as they were completed for the Dutch after the liberation of the Netherlands.
Fate: Completed for the Netherlands Navy in 1816, becoming their Frederica Sophia Wilhelmina.
Ships launched after 1814 (12)
Six of the following were completed for the French Navy after the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy; the other six, laid down in Rotterdam and Venice while those cities were under French control, were completed for the Netherlands and Austrian Navies respectively.
Alain Demerliac, Nomenclature des navires francais de 1800–1815
Rif Winfield & Stephen S Roberts, French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. (Seaforth Publishing, 2015)
ISBN978-1-84832-204-2.
The Pallas class constituted the standard design of 40-gun
frigates of the French Navy during the
Napoleonic Empire period.
Jacques-Noël Sané designed them in 1805, as a development of his seven-ship
Hortense class of 1802, and over the next eight years the Napoléonic government ordered in total 62 frigates to be built to this new design. Of these some 54 were completed, although ten of them were begun for the French Navy in shipyards within the French-occupied Netherlands or Italy, which were then under French occupation; these latter ships were completed for the Netherlands or Austrian navies after 1813.
Ships launched in 1807 (1)
Note – Corona was completed for the Napoleonic Italian Navy, but transferred to the French Navy in April 1810.
Fate: Still incomplete in April 1814 when Venice was captured by the Austrians. Then renamed Anfitrite and later Augusta in the Austrian Navy.
Ships launched in 1814 (3)
As noted below, all three vessels launched in 1814 were never added to the French Navy, as they were completed for the Dutch after the liberation of the Netherlands.
Fate: Completed for the Netherlands Navy in 1816, becoming their Frederica Sophia Wilhelmina.
Ships launched after 1814 (12)
Six of the following were completed for the French Navy after the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy; the other six, laid down in Rotterdam and Venice while those cities were under French control, were completed for the Netherlands and Austrian Navies respectively.
Alain Demerliac, Nomenclature des navires francais de 1800–1815
Rif Winfield & Stephen S Roberts, French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. (Seaforth Publishing, 2015)
ISBN978-1-84832-204-2.