View source for French corvette Dupleix

{{other ships|French ship Dupleix}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Dupleix 1856-1887.jpg
|Ship caption=Steam corvette ''Dupleix''
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= France
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|France|naval}}
|Ship name= ''Dupleix''
|Ship namesake=[[Joseph François Dupleix]]
|Ship ordered=1 October 1856
|Ship builder=[[Cherbourg Dockyard]]
|Ship laid down= 9 October 1856
|Ship launched= 28 March 1861
|Ship commissioned= 13 June 1861
|Ship decommissioned= 1887
|Ship struck=2 July 1887 
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate= Scrapped
|Ship notes=
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Cosmao|corvette}}
|Ship displacement= {{convert|1773|t|LT|lk=on}}
|Ship length= {{convert|66.34|m|ftin}}
|Ship beam= {{cvt|11.40|m|ftin}}
|Ship draught={{cvt|5.61|m|ftin}}
|Ship propulsion=Steam [[trunk engine]], {{cvt|986|ihp|lk=on}}
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship speed= {{convert|11.66|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=  
|Ship complement=191 
|Ship armament=10 × {{convert|160|mm|in|abbr=on}} guns
|Ship armour=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''''Dupleix''''' was a wooden-hulled screw [[corvette]] of the {{sclass|Cosmao|corvette|4}} built for the [[French Navy]]. She was the first French vessel named after the 18th century governor of [[Pondicherry district|Pondichéry]] and governor general of the French possessions in India, [[Marquess]] [[Joseph François Dupleix]]. [[Keel laying|Laid down]] in 1856 at [[Cherbourg Dockyard]] and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] in 1861, ''Dupleix'' was assigned to France's Far East colonies. There, the vessel took part in the [[Boshin War]] and [[Franco-Prussian War]]. The ship returned to France and performed fishery patrols off Iceland until being taken out of service in 1887. The ship was [[Ship breaking|scrapped]] in 1890.

==Background and description==
In 1855 the [[Minister of Marine]] formed a commission to reorganize the French fleet. The commission created new classifications for ship types based on engine capability and as a result, ships formerly rated as [[corvette]]s lost that designation. This opened the need for new corvettes with increased armament and size. ''Dupleix'' and the {{sclass|Cosmao|corvette|4}} were the result of the new requirements. ''Dupleix''{{'}}s overall design was by Louis-François Octave Vésignié, while the vessel's machinery was designed by Victorin Sabattier. ''Dupleix'' had a wooden [[Hull (watercraft)|hull]] that measured {{convert|66.34|m|ftin}} long and {{cvt|63.80|m|ftin}} at the [[Waterline length|waterline]]. The vessel had a maximum [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{cvt|11.40|m|ftin}} and a max [[Draft (hull)|draught]] of {{cvt|5.61|m|ftin}}. The vessel had a [[Displacement (ship)|displacement]] of {{convert|1773|t|LT|lk=on}} and was crewed by 191 sailors.{{sfn|Winfield|Roberts|2015|pp=492–493}}

The corvette was propelled by a single [[Propeller|screw]]{{sfn|Campbell|1979|p=314}} turned by a 400 [[nominal horsepower]] two-cylinder [[trunk engine]]{{sfn|Winfield|Roberts|2015|pp=492–493}} powered by steam from [[oval boiler]]s.{{sfn|Campbell|1979|p=314}} During [[Sea trial|trials]], ''Dupleix'' achieved {{convert|986|ihp|lk=on}}. The ship carried {{cvt|340|t}} of coal for fuel and had a maximum speed of {{convert|11.66|kn|lk=in}}.{{sfn|Winfield|Roberts|2015|pp=492–493}} The vessels were also equipped with sails for propulsion. As built, ''Dupleix'' mounted ten {{cvt|16|cm|1}} M1860 rifles.{{sfn|Winfield|Roberts|2015|pp=492–493}} These were later removed and replaced by twelve {{cvt|5.5|in|cm|order=flip}} M1870 rifles.{{sfn|Campbell|1979|p=314}}{{efn|Campbell has wholly different dimensions. They state that vessel measured {{cvt|67.26|m|ftin}} long at the waterline, with a beam of {{cvt|11.38|m|ftin}} and a draught of {{cvt|5.69|m|ftin}}. The vessel displaced {{cvt|1795|LT|t|order=flip}} and had a crew of 203. The engines created {{cvt|1215|ihp}}.{{sfn|Campbell|1979|p=314}}}}

==Construction and career==
The [[French Navy]] placed an order for the ship based on Vésignié{{'}}s design on 1 October 1856. The ship was built at the [[Cherboug Dockyard]] under the supervision of Vésignié, Nathaniel Villaret and Adrien Joyeux. The [[keel]] was [[Keel laying|laid down]] on 9 October 1856 and the vessel was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 28 March 1861. The machinery was ordered from [[Indret]] in March 1858 and installation was completed in December 1861. ''Dupleix'', named for the 18th century governor of [[Pondicherry district|Pondichéry]] and governor general of the French possessions in India, [[Marquess]] [[Joseph François Dupleix]], was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 13 June 1861.{{sfn|Winfield|Roberts|2015|pp=492–493}} 

After her commissioning, ''Dupleix'' was sent to the [[China Seas|Chinese Sea]] under Vice-Admiral Jaures. She arrived in [[Saigon]] on 25 August 1862, and made short stops in [[Ryukyu Islands]]<!-- [[Okinawa Island]]? --> and the port of [[Hakodate]] on the island of [[Hokkaidō]], before arriving in [[Yokohama]].

===Bombardment of Shimonoseki===
During the [[bombardment of Shimonoseki]] (5 September 1864), ''Dupleix'' was second in the line of corvettes, between the British {{HMS|Tartar|1854|2}} and the Dutch ''Metallkruz''. She fired 411 shots and received 22 cannonballs (seven in the hull, four under the [[waterline]], and 11 in the sails). She had two killed and eight wounded. On 28 December 1864, ''Dupleix'' sailed back to France, where she was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] on 25 June 1865. She was re-commissioned in Cherbourg in 1867, and sent back to serve in the "Far-East Naval Division", under Counter-Admiral [[Gustave Ohier]]. She arrived in Yokohama in February 1868, and was immediately involved in the events of the [[Boshin War|Japanese Revolution]].

===Sakai incident===
[[File:Sakai Incident Tosa Domain 1868 Le Monde Illustré.png|thumb|[[Sakai incident]], Japan (堺事件), ''[[Le Monde Illustré]]'', 1868.]]
On 8 March 1868, a [[skiff]] sent to [[Sakai, Osaka|Sakai]] was attacked by [[samurai]] retainers of the ''[[daimyō]]'' of [[Tosa Province|Tosa]]; twelve sailors were killed. The captain, [[Abel-Nicolas Bergasse du Petit-Thouars]], protested so strongly that the culprits were arrested, and 20 of them were sentenced to death by [[seppuku]]. However, the execution style was so shocking to the French that after 11 were carried out, the French captain requested grace for the survivors. This allowed the French and Japanese parties to reconcile, and is now known as the "[[Sakai incident]]", or ''Sakai Jiken'' (堺事件).

On 16 April 1868, ''Dupleix'' was the first Western ship to salute the Japanese emperor at [[Fort Tempozan]]. In October of the same year, ''Dupleix'' was sent to Hokkaidō. She rescued the British corvette {{HMS|Rattler|1862|6}}, which was shipwrecked at [[Romanzoff Bay]], in [[La Pérouse Strait]].

===Hokkaidō and final years===
Relieved by the [[aviso]] {{ship|French aviso|Coëtlogon||2}}, ''Dupleix'' was stationed in the northern port of Hakodate during the [[Battle of Hakodate]], in order to guarantee French interests there. She brought back Captain [[Jules Brunet]] and his companions from Hakodate to Yokohama after the fall of the [[Republic of Ezo]].

From July 1870 to February 1871, ''Dupleix'' blockaded the German frigate {{SMS|Hertha|1864|2}} in [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]] as part of operations during the [[Franco-Prussian War]]. In March, ''Dupleix'' sailed back to [[Cherbourg, France|Cherbourg]] to be decommissioned. From 1876 to 1886, ''Dupleix'' was re-armed every year from March to October to monitor fishery operations in [[Iceland]]. She was struck from the French naval list on 2 July 1887 at Cherbourg. The vessel was [[Ship breaking|broken up]] in 1890.{{sfn|Winfield|Roberts|2015|pp=492–493}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |last=Campbell |first=N .J. M |chapter=France |editor-last1=Chesneau |editor-first1=Roger |editor-last2=Kolesnik |editor-first2=Eugene M. |name-list-style=amp |year=1979 |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905 |publisher=Mayflower Books |location=New York |isbn=0-8317-0302-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=Winfield |first1=Rif |last2=Roberts |first2=Stephen S. |name-list-style=amp |year=2015 |title=French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |location=Barnsley, UK |isbn=978-1-84832-204-2}}

{{Cosmao-class corvette}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dupleix (1861)}}
[[Category:Cosmao-class corvettes]]
[[Category:Ships built in France]]
[[Category:1861 ships]]
[[Category:Boshin War]]