French aviso Bouvet (1865)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Bouvet.

300px 1/25th scale model of the steam aviso Bouvet, on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris.
History
France
Name:	Bouvet
Namesake:	François Joseph Bouvet.
Builder:	Rochefort
Laid down:	2 October 1863
Launched:	24 May 1865
Fate:	Wrecked on 17 September 1871 off Île-à-Vache
General characteristics
Class & type:	Bouvet class aviso
Displacement:	760 tonnes
Length:	55.75 m (182.9 ft)
Beam:	8.5 m (28 ft)
Propulsion:	700 shp (520 kW)
Complement:	85
Armament:	1 × 16cm gun 2 × 12cm gun

Bouvet was a sail and steam aviso of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She is rememered as the opponent of the German gunboat SMS Meteor during the Battle of Havana in 1870, at the oubreak of the Franco-Prussian War.

Career

Commissioned on 18 June 1866, Bouvet served in Mexico, in the Caribbean and off Terre-Neuve.

At the oubreak of the Franco-Prussian War, she was sent to the Caribbean, where she intervened to rescue the liner SS Nouveau Monde. Under Commander Franquet, she fought against SMS Meteor during the Battle of Havana, managing to ram her opponent and knocking out two of her masts, but suffering herself a shot in a steam pipe which forced her to return into Cuban waters and avoid capture.

Bouvet was wrecked on 17 September 1871 off Île-à-Vache, when a gust of wind sent her on a reef. The crew managed to safely abandon ship.