View source for French ship Eylau (1856)

{{short description|Ship of the line of the French Navy}}

{{other ships|French ship Eylau|French ship Éole}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Eylau-Marius Bar.jpg
|Ship caption=''Eylau'' as a [[hulk (ship)|hulk]] in [[Toulon arsenal|Toulon]] (foreground)
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=[[Second French Empire]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|France|naval}}
|Ship name=''Eylau''
|Ship ordered=Early 1830s as sailing ship ''Éole'', re-ordered 13 November 1852 as steam-powered ship
|Ship builder=[[Arsenal de Toulon]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship laid down=August 1833
|Ship launched=15 May 1856
|Ship commissioned=8 March 1857
|Ship decommissioned=25 February 1865
|Ship namesake=[[Battle of Eylau]]
|Ship reclassified=*Converted into [[troopship]], 1862–1863
*As a [[barracks ship]], 22 February 1877
|Ship renamed=''Eylau'', 23 November 1839
|Ship struck=22 February 1877
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=[[ship breaking|Scrapped]], 1905
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=(as built)
|Ship class={{sclass|Hercule|ship of the line}}
|Ship displacement={{cvt|5023|t|LT|lk=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|68.72|m|ftin|abbr=on}} ([[waterline]])
|Ship beam={{convert|16.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship hold depth={{cvt|8.07|m|ftin}}
|Ship draught={{convert|8.16|m|ftin|abbr=on}} ([[full load]])
|Ship power={{cvt|3600|PS|lk=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 [[Marine steam engine|steam engines]]
|Ship sail plan=[[Ship rig]]ged
|Ship speed=
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship complement=913
|Ship armament=*Lower [[gundeck]]: 18 × 36 pdr cannon; 16 × {{cvt|223.3|mm|1}} [[Paixhans gun]]s
*Upper gundeck: 34 × 30 pdr cannon
*[[Quarterdeck]] and [[forecastle]]: 20 × 30 pdr cannon; 2 × {{cvt|163|mm|1}} [[Muzzle-loading rifle|rifled muzzle-loading guns]] 
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''''Eylau''''' was ordered as one of fourteen [[Second-rate|second-rank]], 100-gun sailing {{sclass|Hercule|ship of the line}} for the [[French Navy]], but was converted to a 90-gun steam-powered ship in the 1850s while under construction. Completed in 1857 the ship participated in the [[Second Italian War of Independence]] in 1859 and the initial stages of the [[Second French intervention in Mexico]] before she was converted into a [[troopship]] in 1862 or 1863. ''Eylau'' was [[hulk (ship)|hulked]] in 1877 and served as a [[barracks ship]] until she was [[ship breaking|scrapped]] in 1905.

==Description==
The ''Hector''-class ships were enlarged versions of the 80-gun {{sclass|Bucentaure|ship of the line|0}} [[ship of the line|ships of the line]] that had been designed by [[naval architect]] [[Jacques-Noël Sané]]. The conversion to steam power involved cutting the ship's frame in half amidships and building a new section to house the propulsion machinery and coal bunkers, which reduced her armament to 90 guns. ''Eylau'' had a length at the [[waterline]] of {{convert|68.72|m|ftin|sp=us}}, a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|16.8|m|ftin|sp=us}} and a depth of [[hold (ship)|hold]] of {{convert|8.07|m|ftin|sp=us}}. The ship [[Displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|5023|t|LT|lk=on|sp=us}} and had a [[Draft (hull)|draught]] of {{convert|8.16|m|ftin|sp=us}} at [[deep load]]. Her crew numbered 913 officers and [[naval rating|ratings]]. Details are lacking on ''Eylau''{{'}}s propulsion machinery, the only information available is that her two [[Marine steam engine|steam engines]] were rated at 900 [[nominal horsepower]]<ref>Winfield & Roberts, pp. 63, 72</ref> and produced {{convert|3600|PS|lk=on|sp=us}}.<ref>Roche, p. 191</ref>

The ship's consisted of eighteen 36-pounder ({{cvt|174.8|mm|in|1}}) [[smoothbore]] cannon and sixteen {{cvt|223.3|mm|1}} [[Paixhans gun]]s on the lower [[gundeck]] and thirty-four 30-pounder {{cvt|164.7|mm|in|1}} cannon on the upper gundeck. On the [[quarterdeck]] and [[forecastle]] were twenty 30-pounder cannon and a pair of {{cvt|163|mm|1}} [[Muzzle-loading rifle|rifled muzzle-loading guns]].<ref name=wr0>Winfield & Roberts, p. 72</ref>

==Construction and career==
The ship was ordered in the early 1830s under the name ''Éole'' and was [[laid down]] at the [[Arsenal de Toulon]] in August 1833. She was renamed ''Eylau'' on 23 November 1839 and was ordered to be converted to steam power on 13 November 1852. The conversion began on 5 July 1852 and the ship was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 15 May 1856. The ship was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 8 March 1857. She was used as a hulk in Toulon from 1877, and broken up in 1905.<ref>Winfield & Roberts, pp. 64, 72</ref>

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{Cite book|first=Jean-Michel |last=Roche |year=2005 |title=Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours|volume= Tome I: 1671–1870 |isbn=978-2-9525917-0-6 |oclc=165892922}}
*{{cite book |last1=Winfield |first1=Rif |last2=Roberts |first2=Stephen S. |title=French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates |date=2015 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |location=Barnsley, UK |isbn=978-1-84832-204-2|name-list-style=amp}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eylau (1856)}}
[[Category:Ships of the line of the French Navy]]
[[Category:Hercule-class ships of the line|Eylau]]
[[Category:1856 ships]]
[[Category:Victorian-era ships of the line]]