1834, France
Belle-Poule was famous for bringing the remains of Napoleon from St Helena in 1840.
Belle-Poule was a 54m long 1,500 tonnes displacement and 60-gun frigate of the French Navy launched in 1834 in Cherbourg. Her design was very simple with minimal camber.
She was given to Prince de Joinville, son of ...
1834, France
Belle-Poule was famous for bringing the remains of Napoleon from St Helena in 1840.
Belle-Poule was a 54m long 1,500 tonnes displacement and 60-gun frigate of the French Navy launched in 1834 in Cherbourg. Her design was very simple with minimal camber.
She was given to Prince de Joinville, son of king Louis-Philippe I, and sent in 1839 to Smyrna to join the fleet of admiral Lalande who stood ready to intervene in Eastern Mediterranean affairs.
In 1840 she was sent to St Helena to repatriate the remains of Napoleon. She was repainted black for the occasion and fitted as a “chapelle ardente” (temporary chapel set up for a sovereign lying in state pending the funeral). She brought back the coffin to Cherbourg where it was transferred onto the steamship Normandie and brought back to Paris along the Seine for a final resting place in the Invalides.
From 1841 to 1843, Belle-Poule was used on diplomatic missions by Prince de Joinville. As such she sailed to Amsterdam, Quebec, Halifax, New-York, Philadelphia, Washington and Lisbon. In 1843, the frigate took de Joinville to Rio de Janeiro to wed the daughter of the Brazilian Emperor.
In 1844 she was sent to Morocco to support the action of General Bugeaud in Algeria.
She then spent some time cruising the Indian ocean.
In 1854 she transported munitions during the Crimean war.
In 1859 she was used in Genoa as a powder store.
Her career finally ended in 1861 and she was scrapped in 1884.
Her name was derived from “la belle Paule” as was known Paule de Viguier, Baroness of Fonterville famous for her exquisite beauty.
