Suffren-class ship of the line

Inflexible as a boys' school
Class overview
Name:	Suffren
Builders:	Toulon, Brest
Operators:	French Navy
Preceded by:	Bucentaure class ship of the line
Succeeded by:	Hercule class
Completed:	14
General characteristics
Class and type:	Suffren class ship of the line
Displacement:	4,070 tonnes
Length:	60.50 metres
Beam:	16.28 metres
Draught:	7.40 metres
Propulsion:	3,114 m² of sails
Complement:	810 to 846 men
Armament:	1824-1839: 30 × 30-pounder long guns on lower deck 32 × 30-pounder short guns on middle deck 24 × 30-pounder carronades and 4 × 18-pounders on upper decks 1839-1840 26 × 30-pounder long guns and 4 × 22cm Paixhans guns on lower deck 32 × 30-pounder short guns on middle deck 24 × 30-pounder carronades and 4 × 16 cm Paixhans guns on upper decks
Armour:	6.97 cm of timber

The Suffren class was a late type of 90-gun ships of the line of the French Navy.

The design was selected on 30 January 1824 by the Commission de Paris, an appointed Commission comprising Jean-Marguerite Tupinier, Jacques-Noël Sané, Pierre Rolland, Pierre Lair and Jean Lamorinière. Intended as successors of the 80-gun Bucentaure class and as the third of four ranks of ships of the line, they introduced the innovation of having straight walls, instead of the tumblehome design that had prevailed until then; this tended to heighten the ships' centre of gravity, but provided much more room for equipment in the upper decks. Stability issues were fixed with underwater stabilisers.

Only the first two, Suffren and Inflexible, retain the original design all through their career; the others were converted to steam and sail during their construction.

Fourteen ships were ordered to this design, of which twelve were modified as steam-driven vessels.