| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Etna |
| Operators | |
| In commission | 1795–1816 |
| Completed | 6 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Retired | 5 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type | Corvette |
| Displacement | 400 to 450 ton (French) |
| Tons burthen | c.564 (bm)[Note 1] |
| Length | 35.95 m (117 ft 11 in) (overall); 32.48 m (106 ft 7 in) (keel) |
| Beam | 9.74 m (31 ft 11 in) |
| Draught | 5.12 m (16 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Complement | 122–198 |
| Armament |
|
| Armour | Timber |
The Etna class was a class of six 16 or 18-gun corvettes with a flat hull, designed by Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait and his pupil Charles-Henri Tellier.[2] Four separate commercial shipbuilders were involved in their construction by contract - including André-François Normand, Courtois and Denise at Honfleur, and Fouache at Le Havre (two ships), while the sixth vessel was built by Pierre Ozanne at Cherbourg Dockyard. The vessels were flush-decked and originally designed to carry a 12-inch mortar. However, as the British navy captured Etna within a year and a half of her launch at which time she was not carrying any mortar, it is possible that the design was modified quite early to delete the mortar.[2]
The Royal Navy captured three of the six vessels in the class. Three members of the class (including two in Royal Navy service), were lost to wrecking or grounding. Only one of the corvettes served for over 20 years.
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