289


289.


A FINELY CONSTRUCTED CONTEMPORARY, POSSIBLY DOCKYARD ENGINEER’S, MODEL FOR A FRENCH IRONCLAD WARSHIP, THOUGHT TO REPRESENT THE ‘COLBERT’ CLASS CENTRAL BATTERY SHIP TRIDENT OF 1870


the correctly framed wooden hull finely plated and pinned overall in copper, nickel-plated above the waterline, with main and secondary armoured belt, ram bow, gun ports, twin barbette gun turrets, counter stern with folding brass propeller on shaft -- 7 x 44in. (18 x 111.7cm.); later display stand


Trident was one of the last French wooden hulled sea-going battleships. Built at the Toulon Arsenal and launched 9th November, 1876, she was 317 ft 9in. long with a 57ft 3in. beam, displaced 8750 tons and had a complement of 774 officers and crew. Her three fully-rigged masts gave her 23,000 square feet of sail coverage, however auxiliary power was provided by eight oval boilers generating 4,600hp to a single shaft producing an impressive 14 knots when in calm seas. Her armoured belt extended 5ft. 10in. above and below the waterline. Her battery originally comprised eight 10.8in., one 9.4in., eight 5.5in. and fourteen 1pdr guns together with four 14in. torpedo tubes, and two un armoured barbettes. British reports claimed she had steam steering, which was thought very handy. Trident was hulked in 1904. The origins of this model are at present uncertain - undoubedly of some age and very high quality, some official purpose seems likely. Possibly this is connected to the unusual design of folding propeller, which may have been a demonstration model to show how drag could be reduced when under sail; whether the idea was ever employed is uncertain at the time of writing.


£4000-6000 289 (detail showing propeller stowed for sailing) additional images online at www.charlesmillerltd.com 107


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132