Jacques-Noël Sané was a French naval engineer, one of the most successful shipbuilders of the Age of Sail

Age of Sail

The Age of Sail was the period in which international trade and naval warfare were dominated by sailing ships, lasting from the 16th to the mid 19th century...

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Sané studied under Duhamel du Monceau

Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau

Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau , was a French physician, naval engineer and botanist. As a botanist his standard abbreviation is Duhamel...

. His designs were so successful that he was nicknamed "The Naval Vauban

Vauban

Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...

".

His new design expressed itself fully with the Océan

French ship Océan (1790)

Océan was a 118-gun first-rate three-decker ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.She was ordered as États de Bourgogne and was launched at Brest in 1790...

, built in 1790: the hull was simple with straight lines, minimal ornaments, and curved sides. The stern was almost integrated in the hull.

The performance of his ships of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 were almost comparable to those of a frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

. English shipyards of the time often copied the lines of French vessels which had been taken.

The masts were both thinner and higher, but also stronger than the 18th century designs. The aft sail plan on the mizzen had taken its definitive shape around 1780; Topgallant sail

Topgallant sail

On a square rigged sailing vessel, a topgallant sail is the square-rigged sail or sails immediately above the topsail or topsails. It is also known as a gallant or garrant sail....

s were common, which allowed for varying the area of sail presented to the wind with more subtlety. This allowed to the ships to point further into the wind. The hull shape did not improve as much as sail design and the speed was not improved as much as became possible with later clipper

Clipper

A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the 19th century that had three or more masts and a square rig. They were generally narrow for their length, could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area...

 hull designs which reduced leeway

Leeway

Leeway is the motion of an object that is floating in the water to leeward due to the component of the wind vector perpendicular to the object’s. The National Search and Rescue Supplement to the International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue Manual defines leeway as "the movement of a...

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The French navy of the time was organised around three ranks :

• The first with 118-gun three-deckers and 80-gun two-deckers
• The second with 74-gun two-deckers
• The third with 64-gun two-deckers

Under Sané, 107 identical 74-gun ships of the line

Seventy-four (ship)

The "seventy-four" was a type of two-decked sailing ship of the line nominally carrying 74 guns. Originally developed by the French Navy in the mid-18th century, the design proved to be a good balance between firepower and sailing qualities, and was adopted by the British Royal Navy , as well as...

 of the Téméraire class

Téméraire class ship of the line

The Téméraire class ships of the line was a class of 107 74-gun ships of the line built between 1782 and 1813 for the French navy. The type was and remains the most numerous class of capital ship ever built....

 were built, 35 80-gun and 9 118-gun of the Océan class

Océan class ship of the line

The Océan-type ships of the line were a series of 16 first-rate 118-gun ships of the line of the French navy, designed by engineer Jacques-Noël Sané. Fifteen were completed from 1788 on, with the last one entering service in 1854...

. The 118-gun Commerce-de-Marseille, captured by the English, was said to "manoeuver like a frigate" in spite of her size. http://perso.orange.fr/gerard.delacroix/118/plaquette-e.htm

Sané also designed numerous classes of smaller warships, including several designs of frigate, to which at least 143 were built. This included four classes of 18-pounder armed frigates (successively the 6-ship Hébé

Hébé class frigate

The Hébé class was a class of six 38-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1781 by Jacques-Noël Sané.* HébéThe Hébé class was a class of six 38-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1781 by Jacques-Noël Sané.* Hébé...

 (1782 design), 10-ship Virginie

Virginie class frigate

The Virginie class was a class of ten 44-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1793 by Jacques-Noël Sané. An eleventh vessel begun in 1794 was never completed.* Virginie...

 (1793 design), 7-ship Hortense

Hortense class frigate

Jacques-Noël Sané designed the Hortense class 40-gun frigates of the French Navy in 1802. Seven frigates were built to this new design between 1803 and 1807. Of the seven, one was wrecked at sea and the British Royal Navy captured four, taking three into service.* HortenseJacques-Noël Sané designed...

 (1801 design) and 54-ship Pallas (1805 design) classes.

Achievements

• Annibal class ship of the line
  Annibal class ship of the line
  The Annibal class was a type of 74-gun ship of the French Navy. The type was one of the first achievements of Jacques-Noël Sané. Both ships were captured during the Third Battle of Ushant ....
  
  
• Téméraire class ship of the line
  Téméraire class ship of the line
  The Téméraire class ships of the line was a class of 107 74-gun ships of the line built between 1782 and 1813 for the French navy. The type was and remains the most numerous class of capital ship ever built....
  
  
• Océan class ship of the line
  Océan class ship of the line
  The Océan-type ships of the line were a series of 16 first-rate 118-gun ships of the line of the French navy, designed by engineer Jacques-Noël Sané. Fifteen were completed from 1788 on, with the last one entering service in 1854...
  
  
• Commerce de Paris class ship of the line
  Commerce de Paris class ship of the line
  The Commerce de Paris class was a ship of the line class of the French Navy, designed in 1804 by Jacques-Noël Sané as a shortened version of his 118-gun Océan Class three-deckers...
  
  
• Tonnant class ship of the line
  Tonnant class ship of the line
  The Tonnant Class was a class of eight 80-gun ships of the line designed in 1787 by Jacques-Noël Sané. From 1802 a new group was begun of slightly modified design, of which more than 24 were begun....