During the
First French Empire, the French Navy was organised into three types of ships of the line: the 118-gun three-deckers of the
Océan class and their
Commerce de Paris-class derivatives, which constituted the capital ships that led naval squadrons; the powerful 80-gun two-deckers of the
Tonnant class and their
Bucentaure-class derivatives, constituting the backbone of the squadrons; and the
74-gun workhorses of the
Téméraire class. On the side of frigates, the design had stabilised on
18-pounder frigates of 44 guns, despite numerous attempts to increase the calibre of the
main battery to
24-pounders as exemplified in particular by the
Forte class. In 1818,
Portal d'Albarèdes was appointed
Minister of the Navy of the recently
restored Monarchy. In 1821, he gathered a Commission to prepare new designs for the ships of the French Navy. ==Notes and references==