The Carrack Grande Françoise was created as France's answer to the Henry Grâce à Dieu , built in 1514 and modified in 1536 . The ship was intended to glorify the Kingdom of France and at the same time show that French shipbuilders were also able to build heavy carracks that could take on the Henry Grace à Dieu . But they hadn't considered one thing: The Grande Françoise was enormous for its time: The draft of the ship was so considerable that it was not possible to pass the port entrance of Le Havre - even if an extraordinary tide had set in. The ship thus only had a representational and deterrent function, in terms of naval tactics at most a defensive function for the port of Le Havre , as it was never able to leave it.
construction
The Grande Françoise had 4 masts, which, however, still consisted of one piece: foremast and main mast were each occupied with three square sails , the mizzen mast had a yard sails on top of the Mars position and a latin sails below . The cross mast was equipped with a latin sail , on which a gaff top sail could also be fitted, which could be attached to an additional tree protruding from the stern.
Armament
The ship had 120 bronze cannons, all of which corresponded to the cannons used on land - the on-board cannons, which met typical naval requirements , had not yet been invented at that time.
literature
Attilio Cucari: Sailing Ships - The Queens of the Seas, History and Typology , Munich: Bassermann Verlag, 2008, Italian original edition: Velieri , Mondadori Electra SpA 2004, Milano
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