French gunboat Flèche (1855)

Flèche was an Étincelle-class gunboat of the French Navy. She served in the Crimean War before being used for hydrographic surveys and eventually as a coal hulk at Brest.

Portrait of Flèche
History
France
NameFlèche
NamesakeArrow
BuilderToulon [1]
Laid downDecember 1854 [1]
Launched10 June 1855 [1]
CommissionedJune 1855 [1]
Stricken11 February 1865
FateBroken up in 1882[1]
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeÉtincelle-class gunboat
Tons burthen350 tonnes
Length43.9 m (144 ft 0 in)
Beam7.8 m (25 ft 7 in)
Draught3.2 m (10 ft 6 in)
Propulsion
  • Sail
  • Creusot steam engine
Complement78
Armament
  • 4 × 50-pounder guns
  • 20 × riffled guns
ArmourTimber

Career
Flèche, icebreaking in the Dnieper Liman for the passage of Floating batteries

Flèche took part in the Battle of Kinburn in 1855. She served in the Adriatic Sea from 1859, and in Mexico from 1863.[1]

She conducted hydrographic surveys off Brest from 1864. In 1877, she was hulked and used as a coal depot in Brest until 1862, when she was broken up.[1]

Citations
  1. Roche, vol.1, p.203

References
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. p. 203. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
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