LA COURONNE -   MANTUA - PLANS

French Ship of the Line.  Laid down in 1629 on the banks of the Seudre River in Brittany, La Couronne was the largest French warship built to that time, 25 feet longer and 7 feet broader in the beam than the next largest of the King's ships. As significant, she represented a major shift in French policy, being French-built rather than an import from Holland, as was usual at the time. The inadequacy of contemporary French shipbuilding can be gauged by the fact that La Couronne was not launched until 1635. Sometime later she was dismasted, but in the spring of 1639, she was Isaac de Launay Razilly's flagship when the French fleet sailed from Brest for La Corunn;a, Spain. The French fleet sailed again in June, and after storms arrived at Laredo in July, where they captured an admiral's ship. Subsequently laid up at Brest, La Couronne was broken up in 1641, either because too many of her timbers were rotten to make repairs possible, or possibly because a jealous naval officer denied command of the ship arranged for her scrapping.

She was reputedly a good sailer, and much admired in England, Holland, and the other countries she visited in her brief career. Despite her great size, her arming was anachronistic when compared with Dutch and English practice. Although the inadequacy of galleys against larger ships had been confirmed during the siege of the Huguenot stronghold of La Rochelle in 1627-28, La Couronne was armed with 12 guns in the stern and 8 in the bows, as protection against the more maneuverable galleys. Moreover, she was lightly armed; England's Sovereign of the Seas (1637) carried 102 guns on a hull about 20 feet shorter than La Couronne.

It is interesting to note that the timbers used for construction of La Couronne were taken from the forests of the defeated Huguenot leader, Duc de Rohan. Asked her opinion of the new ship, the Duchess de Rohan remarked, with a partisan lack of enthusiasm, I truly believe that the two forests of Monsieur de Rohan which have been used to build this ship were more beautiful than what I see.

Musee de La Marine are some of the finest plans available.  Accurate in complete detail, they are printed on one or more sheets and include several photos and the history of the vessel.  

1  Sheet Plan 

2  PHOTOS   

1/150 SCALE 

AMM-1

PRICE:  $ 70.00