Experiment

Posted by F.F. on Friday 15th of November 2024 14:59

Wikipedia says that the Experiment was,according to a French historian (Georges Lacour-Gayet), an excellent sailer:
«On 23 September,[18] Sagittaire captured the 50-gun HMS Experiment, which carried 118,819 piastres. Experiment was coppered and had excellent nautical qualities.[19: Lacour Gayet (1910) p. 227]»

Georges Lacour-Gayet wrote in fact (La Marine militaire de la France sous le règne de Louis XVI, Paris, Honoré Champion, p. 223 in the 1905 printing) this (mainly translated through Google; all mistakes are due to my correcting, if some remain):
«The Sagittaire, of Albert de Rions, had captured a ship of fifty guns, sheathed in copper, the Experiment, which, according to the Chevalier de Borda, had in England the same reputation for sailing than the Iphigénie had in France; on board the sum of 118,819 piastres, or six hundred and fifty thousand livres [£30,400], had been found. A few merchant vessels had also been taken. The squadron wasn't to leave the American coasts without bringing back from there some trophies.»
French wording:
«Le Sagittaire, de d'Albert de Rions, avait capturé un vaisseau de cinquante canons, doublé en cuivre, l'Experiment, qui, d'après le chevalier de Borda, avait en Angleterre la même réputation de marche que l'lphigénie en France; à bord on avait trouvé la somme de 118 819 piastres, soit six cent cinquante mille livres. On avait pris aussi quelques bâtiments de commerce. L'escadre ne devait pas quitter les côtes d'Amérique sans en rapporter quelques trophées.»

So in fact a famous French engineer, mathematician and sailer said that the Experiment (sheathed in copper in a time where it was uncommon in France, which is not pointless here) was, in England, regarded as an excellent sailer.

Posted by Cy on Saturday 22nd of August 2015 07:55

Dimensions corrected :)

Posted by Paul Fields on Sunday 16th of August 2015 20:16

I expect the lengths of the Keel and the gundeck have been reversed.