La Couronne (1636)
 The La Couronne in the reconstruction of Pâris
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The La Couronne (in German: Die Krone ) was a French sailing warship with 72 guns on two decks. It is a popular model for model replicas because of its lavish features .
history
It was built in 1636 at the La Roche Bernard shipyard in Dieppe by master shipbuilder Charles Mourier. The basis was that Cardinal Richelieu ordered the rival French port cities to launch a fleet-building program. The great English ships like the Sovereign of the Seas posed a great threat to France. La Couronne was not involved in any major combat operations.
The ship
Since shipbuilders at that time often only passed on their knowledge and experience of shipbuilding to their own descendants, which severely limited the group of people with regard to detailed knowledge of the ship, not many original details of the shipbuilder Charles Morien are known. Due to the careful observations of Jesuit Father Fournier and his notes, posterity succeeds in making a very detailed reconstruction of the ship.
Since at that time many galleys still dominated the previously known waters, one did not trust such a lush galleon as the La Couronne to have good sailing characteristics. In particular, the high superstructures and the large mass of the ship could give the viewer the impression that the ship was extremely clumsy and difficult to steer. In fact, according to today's reconstruction knowledge, it went very well, was agile and was able to sail away even small fires. The basic shape of the ship was borrowed from Arab ships from that time and thus had a raised stern and a long, low bow. However, both were modified somewhat based on European shipbuilding experience: the stem was not straight as in the Arab models, but was based on an arc of a circle. The halyard was constructed as far back as possible close to the main bulkhead, which gave the ship excellent sailing properties even on Atlantic waters. The ratio of keel length to deck beam width in this shipbuilding construction was around 4: 1, while galleys had a ratio of 6: 1 to 9: 1.
The underwater hull was provided with a worm skin made of fir wood and a layer of fungus underneath to make it difficult for shipworms to get to the outer wall. In addition, a coat of lime and coconut oil has survived, which is also said to have a shell-inhibiting effect. Like other French warships of the time, the ship was equipped with 8 compasses and 24 hourglasses.
Along the transom, the La Couronne had a distinctive rear gallery with many allegorical carvings, which led into the side galleries and could hold up to 150 people. Above the stern gallery, the image of the patron saint ( St. Joseph ) was attached, next to which the coat of arms of the king or the admiral was probably attached.
At the highest point of the stern, the ship was equipped with three gilded copper stern lanterns, which identified the ship as an admiral's ship . The La Couronne was richly decorated with colored and gold ornaments, the exact appearance of which has unfortunately not been passed down. What seems certain, however, is that, as with almost all warships of the time, especially the galleys, the inside of the gun ports were painted red.
The La Couronne had a 15.27 m long galion deck at the bow , which was reminiscent of the ship's beak of galleys and cheekbones and could accommodate many people. This area was often used to defecate or to do laundry. The deck had been constructed very deep, as the hunting cannons were set up above this deck and had to have a clear field of fire.
There were three galleys and two ovens on board the ship .
The main mast and crossmast were inclined aft by 2 °, while the foremast was vertical. The mainsail was larger than the mainsail (9.5 m) in terms of height (14.19 m). The sail area of the 10 sails is given as 1503 m 2 . The La Couronne also carried 10 replacement sails. At the bowsprit two spritsail were installed, the blind and upper blind. Foremast and mainmast were rigged. The cross mast was equipped with a latin sail in the lowest position.
The La Couronne could even be rowed like a galley with 11.40 m long oars, even though it was so high-sided, and could thus cover a distance of up to 12 nautical miles per day even in calm conditions .
The galleon carried a total of 7 anchors, the heaviest of which weighed 5433 kg, including 1 warpanker.
The 1 m wide and upwardly opening gun ports were 3.57 m apart on the La Couronne and thus deviated extraordinarily far from the otherwise common 2.60 m to 2.92 m of other French ships of the time.
The armament of the ship was very diverse and designed as follows:
- 14 thirty-six pounders
- 2 twenty-four pounders
- 26 eighteen pounders
- 3 eight pounders
- 3 four pounders
- 48 other guns, including some rotating guns
There were 2300 cannon balls on board for these cannons.
There were also 175 muskets for hand-to-hand combat, which were heavier than the corresponding land weapons. Crossbows were provided for setting sails on fire. In addition, the ship carried 6 halberds , an unknown number of partisans , round shields and sabers, as well as 100 pikes , also for close combat .
The displacement with an assumed outer skin thickness of 0.30 m is given as 2460 t. The crew strength, including all officers and crew grades, was 617 men. The La Couronne, including the equipment, cost 500,000 livres of the currency of the time.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pâris refers to Fournier's "Hydrography" book, from which many of the dimensions given here come. However, he has doubts about the accuracy of some data. He quotes the source on page 20 as follows: Weight of the ship: 1958 t, payload 1958 t = total weight 3916 t, which he doubts due to the ship's dimensions
- ↑ after Pâris, p. 20.
- ↑ after Pâris, p. 20.
- ↑ after Pâris, p. 20.
- ↑ after Pâris, p. 18 with an assumed thickness of the outer skin of 0.30 m
- ↑ after Pâris, p. 28.
- ↑ after Pâris, p. 24.
- ↑ Jesuit Father Georges Fournier was an important ship observer and knew his way around shipbuilding. In 1667 he brought out the "Hydrographie, contenant la theory et la pratique de toutes les parties de la navigation", on which today's knowledge about the ship La Couronne is based
- ↑ here there are different information, so in some cases the same source also states that there is only “over 100 people” capacity
- ↑ the sail area is given including the bonnets , even if these are not included in the number of sails
- ↑ plus the bonnets for mainsail, mizzen sail and jib
literature
- Georges Fournier: Hydrography contenant la theory et la practiqve [pratique] de tovtes [toutes] les parties de la navigation . 1667. [1] .
- François-Edmond Pâris : Sailing Warships of the 17th Century. From the Couronne to the Royal Louis. Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 1975, OCLC 831096427 .
Web links
- basic technical and biographical information on Sailing Warships