Built in Cherbourg in 1857 to plans by Dupuis de Lôme,
l'Aigle was a 90-metre, wooden-hulled corvette, with a berth
of 10,5m and a draught of 4,40m. With a 500 horse-power
cylinder engine, the boats was capable of speeds of up to
15 knots as a result of its paddle-wheels. And it was
on this ship that Napoleon III travelled to Algeria in
1860 and 1865. It was however the inauguration of the
Suez canal with the Empress Eugénie on board which brought
it lasting fame. Renamed 'Le Rapide' during the Third
Republic, the ship was decommissioned in Cherbourg
in 1873.
Model of ‘l’Aigle’
